U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell have announced the publication of a collaborative strategic plan to continue accelerating the development of offshore wind energy in the United States, the National Offshore Wind Strategy: Facilitating the Development of the Offshore Wind Industry in the United States, which could help enable 86GW of offshore wind in the United States by 2050.
The strategy details the current state of offshore wind in the United States, presents the actions and innovations needed to reduce deployment costs and timelines, and provides a roadmap to support the growth and success of the industry. The National Offshore Wind Strategy identifies key challenges facing the industry and more than 30 specific actions that DOE and DOI can take over the next five years to address those challenges. These actions fall into three strategic areas:
- Reducing technical costs and risks.
- Supporting effective stewardship
- Improving the market conditions for investment in offshore wind energy
The new strategy builds on DOE and DOI’s first joint offshore wind strategy, published in 2011.