Understanding Offshore Wind Energy Complexities
Offshore wind energy (OWE) presents opportunities to address climate change and enhance economics, while also posing challenges for existing users, including the fishing industry.
Opportunities
Transitioning to renewable energy is critical to mitigate the impacts of climate change and strengthen the resiliency of the national energy grid. Densely populated coastal areas stand to benefit from offshore wind as an abundant, nearby renewable resource. OWE has the potential to aid federal and global responses to climate change by helping achieve zero-emission energy goals. The industry stands to facilitate economic growth through historic infrastructure and workforce investment.
Quick facts:
Wind speeds offshore tend to be faster than on land. Small increases in wind speed yield large increases in energy production, which means that more energy can be generated offshore than on land.
Offshore wind speeds are also more consistent, which helps ensure a reliable energy source.
40% of the U.S. population, or 128 million people, currently reside in coastal areas that amount to less than 10% of the country’s total land mass (NOAA Economics and Demographics). These densely populated coasts have high energy demands, which makes offshore wind especially promising to meet the needs of these communities.
Offshore wind farms provide renewable energy without emitting environmental pollutants or consuming costly fuels.
Offshore wind farms can create artificial reef habitat and/or act as a “fish aggregation device.” This means that populations of certain fish in the wind array area may increase, which can provide productive recreational fishing opportunities.
As a domestic energy source, OWE provides a way to improve national energy resiliency. This has promising benefits for public security, health, and safety.
Large-scale development of OWE has the potential for economic benefits, including:
Creation of temporary (construction) and permanent (operations, maintenance) jobs, often with strong union involvement.
Revitalization of economically depressed areas through investment upgrades to port infrastructure, transportation, and manufacturing.
Creation of workforce development programs meant to prepare the next generation with offshore-wind-specific skills for trades such as welding, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and pipefitting.
Challenges
Offshore wind is a relatively new technology. In Europe, offshore wind farms have operated for over 30 years. While the U.S. can learn from overseas successes and failures, its geography, resources, and energy needs differ somewhat, so detailed, place-based science is still needed.
Quick facts:
Offshore wind farms present unique and complicated costs for construction, operation, and maintenance. Costs are significantly higher for offshore wind, due to the scale of turbine components and the remote nature of wind arrays.
Offshore wind farms have limitations in terms of the depth of the water and the type of ocean floor that they can be constructed on.
While high offshore wind speeds are good for power generation, extreme wind speeds during storms can pose a threat to turbine infrastructure.
Construction and operation can have impacts on wildlife, including fish, shellfish, and marine mammals. In response to this, a body of scientific research is examining how to investigate and mitigate potentially harmful impacts.
Offshore wind farms can create a conflict with commercial fishing areas, with potential complications regarding gear and vessel navigation.
Offshore wind farms built within view of the coastline may be unpopular among residents and may affect tourism and property values.
As permanent offshore structures, turbines can pose a potentially significant risk for ship collisions. This carries risks for human safety in the event of a collision or turbine collapse. This, in turn, could negatively impact the marine environment from fuel leaks or damaged ship/turbine components.
Like other power generation infrastructure, the lifespan of offshore wind turbines is limited, generally around 20 years. Decommissioning of turbines is a complicated process.
In the U.S. much work remains to develop a strong domestic supply chain of offshore wind infrastructure, specifically in regard to the manufacture and transportation of offshore wind components. Programs to address workforce training are expanding, but there are still shortages of qualified individuals and facilities.
The Federal Administration and Offshore Wind Energy
Learn how the Biden-Harris Administration is advancing American Offshore Wind Opportunities by visiting this fact sheet.
Additional Resources