While Off Its Goals, U.S. Renewable Sector Gaining Traction, an Industrial Info News Alert
SUGAR LAND, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Researched by Industrial Info Resources — With the potential for new offshore wind farms off the U.S. West Coast, and with an independent renewable energy company boasting of record output, the United States is advancing a clean economy at an exponential pace.
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced it saw no significant impacts to people or the environment from potential wind farms off the coast of Oregon.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek in November threw her support behind floating wind installations off the state’s coast, with more than 200,000 acres poised for potential development. That would help with state efforts to achieve net-zero emissions from its utility sector by 2040.
The areas under consideration off the Oregon coast could support as much as 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy, the BOEM estimated last year. There are few commercial wind farms operating in U.S. territorial waters, but the sector is gaining traction.
In a report on U.S. activity during the second quarter, the non-profit Oceantic Network, formerly the Business Network for Offshore Wind, found three commercial-scale offshore wind farms under construction in U.S. territorial waters–Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind and Vineyard Wind 1.
As of the three-month period ending June 30, Oceantic found the United States has 310 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind energy on the grid, some 7.5 times more than at the end of 2023.
The federal government set a goal of establishing 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by the end of the decade, though it started from scratch at the beginning of the 2020s.
From the private sector, renewable energy company Avangrid Incorporated (NYSE:AGR) (Orange, Connecticut) claimed the lead position in offshore wind energy capacity after the first 10 turbines for its Vineyard Wind facility offshore Massachusetts began spinning in June. Vineyard Wind boasts an initial capacity of 136 MW, which Avangrid said was enough to power more than 60,000 homes.
Subscribers to Industrial Info’s Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed reports on Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Windfarm.
Avangrid on Wednesday added that it reached 9 GW in installed capacity for both onshore wind and solar energy so far this year.
“With a big pipeline of future renewable energy projects across the country, and a large fleet of onshore wind projects that is ripe for repowering, we remain steadfast in our commitment to accelerating the clean energy transition,” Avangrid’s Chief Executive Officer Pedra Azagra said Wednesday.
The majority of the installed capacity, some 8 GW, came from wind energy.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration, the data arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, still sees natural gas as the main source of power on the U.S. grid, accounting for 42% of the total share. That falls to 40% next year, however, as renewables expand by 2% to account for 25% of what’s on the grid.
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