The Business Network for Offshore Wind’s report, Building a National Network of Offshore Wind Ports: A $36B Plan for Domestic Clean Energy Infrastructure highlights the need for both public and private investment in the port infrastructure projects needed to meet the U.S.’s offshore wind power generation goals.
Authored by Brian Sabina, CEO of Clean Energy Terminals and the Network’s Ports Working Group, the report lays out a $36 billion plan for developing domestic port infrastructure to help the U.S. reach its offshore wind deployment goals of 30 GW by 2030 and 110 GW by 2050. It offers practical cost and timing requirements for needed projects to ensure ports are ready to meet current and future demand. The report also outlines nine approaches state and federal policymakers could take to encourage private investment, either by subsidizing portions of the infrastructure costs or by de-risking projects to drive confidence and cost-efficiency.
The Report’s key findings include:
- Port infrastructure is one of the most significant bottlenecks impeding the advancement of the United States offshore wind industry.
- The U.S. needs approximately 110 port development sites across the East Coast, West Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico to support the full buildout of the industry (35 are already in development.)
- Without additional government funding and policy supports that incentivize private investment into U.S. offshore wind port infrastructure, port capacity will continue to be a major offshore wind deployment constraint across the country.
- The total cost to address the nation’s offshore wind port infrastructure gap is estimated to be $36 billion over the next decade when realistically accounting for construction cost inflation.
The Business Network for Offshore Wind is a nonprofit, educational organisation with a mission to develop the offshore wind renewable energy industry and its supply chain and has offices in Maryland, Virginia, Rhode Island, and Maine, USA.
