Authors: J. Paul Forrester
On March 29, 2021, the Biden administration issued a fact sheet (Fact Sheet) announcing a “set of bold actions that will catalyze offshore wind energy, strengthen the domestic supply chain, and create good-paying, union jobs.” Included in the announcement is a target to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 to support 77,000 jobs, power 10 million homes and cut 78 million metric tons in carbon emissions.1 The actions were announced at a White House roundtable that included National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as well as state officials, industry executives and labor leaders.
Following on President Biden’s January 27, 2021 Executive Order 14008,2 Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, the Fact Sheet noted the Biden administration taking “coordinated steps” in “close coordination with states and in partnership with the private sector, unions and other key stakeholders […] to catalyze the deployment of offshore wind at scale,” and the announced actions include:
According to a contemporaneous Department of Energy (DOE) press release, the 30 GW target will “spur $12 billion in capital investment annually, leading to the construction of up to 10 new manufacturing plants for offshore wind turbine components, new ships to install offshore wind turbines, and up to $500 million in port upgrades,” and achieving the 2030 goal would “support 77,000 jobs, including more than 44,000 workers employed in offshore wind and nearly 33,000 additional jobs in community supported by offshore wind activity,” and unlock a “pathway to deploy 110 GW or more of offshore wind by 2050, supporting 135,000 total jobs, including 77,000 in offshore wind and 58,000 induced in communities with offshore wind activity.”
Further specific actions include:
1 See related Department of Energy press release at: https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-secretary-granholm-announces-ambitious-new-30gw-offshore-wind-deployment-target.
2 Described in our related February 8, 2021 Perspective “Biden Signs Far-Reaching Executive Order Setting Forth Climate Change Priorities.”
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