DOE Releases West Coast Offshore Wind Transmission Study and Action Plan 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released the West Coast Offshore Wind Transmission Study and Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. West Coast Region. Funded by DOE’s Grid Deployment Office (GDO) and co-managed by the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) spent the past two years studying the costs and benefits of adding floating offshore wind turbines along the United States’ Pacific coast. A new report shows that floating offshore wind could bring 33 GW of energy to the western United States by 2050 and bolster the resilience of coastal communities. The additional transmission that would be built to transport the offshore wind could also help transport lower-cost energy from onshore like solar, land-based wind, and hydropower, ultimately leading to billions of dollars in savings across the Western Interconnection.  

In addition, the action plan developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management addresses coastal and offshore wind transmission challenges on the U.S. West Coast and provides recommendations on how to connect the first generation of West Coast offshore wind projects to the Western electric grid and support transmission over the next several decades. 

View the West Coast Offshore Wind Transmission Study

View the Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development