The US Offshore Wind Industry Is Scheming For A Comeback

---

---

---

The US offshore wind industry is all but dead in the water following this year’s abrupt shift in federal energy policy, dragging thousands of jobs down to a watery grave along with it. Nevertheless, the wind will keep on blowing long after the current occupant of the Oval Office leaves the premises as scheduled on January 20, 2029, and the inevitable comeback is already under way.

California Has An Offshore Wind Plan …

To be clear, it’s not entirely clear that US President Donald Trump intends to leave office peacefully as scheduled. After all, violence was the order of the day on January 6, 2021, when the Forces of Evil™ launched a bloodthirsty attack on the US Capitol in a failed attempt to propel Trump into office past the expiration date of his first term.

Regardless of what Trump intends, though, the march of history marches on, and that includes the rising role of offshore wind turbines in the global energy profile.

That movement is passing the US by, at least for the time being. In just a few short months after taking office again this year, Trump has successfully smothered almost the entire US offshore wind industry in its cradle, by revoking access to federally authorized offshore wind sites. However, the keyword is almost. One sign of life is the state of California, where plans for the New Humboldt Bay Heavy Lift Offshore Wind Marine Terminal are still alive and kicking.

The Humboldt project did suffer a hitch at the end of August, when Trump’s Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, pulled the plug on federal funding for 12 seaport improvement projects, including almost $427 million allocated for the Humboldt wind hub (see more background on the Humboldt wind hub here).

US Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA2) was among those to register a protest, and he did not mince words. “This is a new level of idiocracy, where the Trump administration is trying to destroy an entire sector of clean energy, kill thousands of good-paying jobs, and drive up electricity prices for American consumers,” Huffman said in a press statement.

“Surrendering the future to China by dragging America back to dirty, climate-wrecking fossil fuel dependency while most of the world is moving on to safer, cleaner, and cheaper clean energy, is reckless, corrupt, and profoundly against our national interests,” he added.

… And California Still Has An Offshore Wind Plan

Not to worry, at least for now. Last weekend the California state legislature voted yes on CA SB015, a far-ranging budget trailer bill that includes a $227.5 million tranche of state funds in support of the offshore wind port, towards an initial total of $800 million. The funds will enable the project to move forward for the time being, despite the clawback of federal support.

The industry organization Oceantic Network was among those applauding California lawmakers. “While the federal government is attacking needed energy and infrastructure projects, California’s leadership is driving the market forward, delivering significant economic support that will result in local port investment and create new jobs,” said Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez, senior director of policy and outreach at the organization.

Make That A Floating Offshore Wind Plan!

That’s all well and good, but as long as Trump stays in office, all that hard work — and the $227.5 million — will go straight down the drain. After all, Trump holds the keys to the federal offshore leases that make or break the domestic offshore wind industry, and he’s looking to throw them into the sea after locking the door.

Trump can’t stop the clock from ticking on his time in office, though. He can sell all the “Trump 2028” caps his supporters will buy, but January 20, 2029, is the last day he can wield control over offshore wind leases.

And that’s where the timeline favors California. The Humboldt project is an enormously complex multi-phase effort. The first phase is not expected to become active until after Trump leaves office, by which time the federal offshore lease program will be helmed by someone more suited to public service (if the US electorate so decides, that is — fingers crossed).

The technology timeline also favors California. The Humboldt project is designed as a hub for floating wind turbines, a relatively new branch of the offshore wind industry. So far, only a few floating turbines are in operation globally, but innovators like the US startup Principle Power are finally closing in on high-volume scale-up. By the time the Humboldt project is open for business, floating wind technology will benefit from a more mature supply chain along with technology improvements.

The US Floating Wind Industry Is Floating Out For Greener Pastures

Oh, the irony, it burns. The US could have been the shining light of the global floating wind industry. We taxpayers have been footing the bill for the US Department of Energy’s efforts to support innovation in the floating offshore turbine field going back to the early 2000’s. In 2009, for example, the Energy Department helped Principle Power kickstart the development of its first-generation floating platform. Now the company is shut out of the US for the time being, so it is working with France and other countries to put its WindFloat platforms to good use.

Another US-based startup, ECO TLP, is also in the running for a slice of the global floating offshore wind pie. ECO TLP is leading a global effort in collaboration with the Dutch engineering firm Mocean Offshore and the UK firm Arup International Projects. In 2023, its design for a floating offshore platform won the all-important Approval in Principle from the Houston-based certification organization American Bureau of Shipping, followed by approval of its FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) documents earlier this year.

ABS has also been supporting yet another US-based floating wind turbine platform startup, Aikido. To the surprise of no-one, Aikido is also waving buh-bye to the US. In May, the company announced that it will be deploying its AO60 15 megawatt platform at a test center in Norway by 2027.

“Due to its compact ‘flat-pack configuration,’ Aikido’s technology can leverage existing maritime infrastructure, ports and vessels already in use in Norway,” the company explains.

Oh well. The US can wait. If Aikido’s self-assembling platform is ready for market just a couple of years after the AO60 deploys, it will be just in time for a new Commander-in-Chief to helm the US government. This time around, one hopes, the US will not choose another malevolently incompetent dictator with a taste for tacky ballrooms.

Image (cropped): California is forging ahead with plans to construct a seaport hub for the US floating offshore wind turbine industry, despite the loss of federal funds for the project (courtesy of Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District).