The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced it will lead in the development of a comprehensive offshore wind supply chain roadmap as part of its participation in the new White House-led Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership.
The first-of-its-kind forum between 12 East Coast governors and Administration officials will enable collaboration to build a strong, U.S.-based supply chain for offshore wind, grow a skilled U.S. workforce, and accelerate work to address important regional matters.
The federal and state partners will work together to further grow U.S. offshore wind energy, anticipate needs, and solidify and expand key offshore wind supply chain elements, such as domestic manufacturing, logistics, transmission, and workforce development.
With support from the National Offshore Wind R&D Consortium, and funding from DOE, New York, and Maryland, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is developing a roadmap for offshore wind supply chain needs. The first part of the road map, released in March, details the top-level demand for deployment, components, ports, vessels, and workforce required to achieve the U.S. goal of 30GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. The report forecasts the need for an offshore wind workforce averaging between 12,300 and 49,000 full time workers annually.
The second part of the road map, to be released by the end of 2022, will detail scenarios that would achieve U.S. manufacturing of major components by 2030, including manufacturing facilities, workforce requirements, and manufacturing capabilities; evaluate the potential benefits of such a supply chain; identify realistic pathways to achieve this supply chain; and determine the readiness of existing industries to support supply chain development.
