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CCC approves Morro Bay plan as CEC considers higher, more ambitious offshore wind targets for California
On 8 June 2022, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) voted unanimously to approve a floating wind auction at the Morro Bay wind energy area (WEA)
The move follows the Coastal Commission’s unanimous approval on 7 April 2022 to proceed with offshore wind at the state’s other WEA at Humboldt, off California’s north coast.
The 7 April and 8 June decisions are important milestones and regulatory steps for plans to make offshore wind a significant part of California’s clean power portfolio – including upcoming federal lease auctions at the WEAs in Q3 2022.
In May 2022, the California Energy Commission (CEC) released a draft Assembly Bill (AB) 525 report that proposed planning goals for offshore wind of 3 GW by 2030, 10-15 GW by 2045 and up to 20 GW by 2050.
More recently, work also got underway at the CEC to consider even larger, accelerated goals and the CEC is expected to hold a second public workshop later in June to consider the expanded offshore wind planning goals.
Offshore wind development on the west coast of the US took a major step forward on 26 May 2022 when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released a Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) for five lease areas off the California coast.
The PNS is the final step before setting an auction date for nearly 380,000 acres for offshore wind development, an area sufficient for at least 4.5 GW of offshore wind capacity.
Water depths in the Pacific require the use of floating turbines. All commercial-scale offshore wind development in the US to date has been fixed-bottom offshore wind, so the PNS is also an important step for the industry in the US as a whole.
The PSN covers includes three proposed lease areas in the Morro Bay WEA off central California; and two proposed lease areas in the Humboldt WEA.
In 2021, a joint agency report concluded that for California to reach 100% clean energy by 2045, it will need a diverse portfolio of renewable energy that includes offshore wind.
In its first-ever 20-year outlook, the California Independent System Operator included 10 GW of offshore wind for transmission planning.
Last year, the Biden administration and Governor Newsom also began work to open up the way for the first 4.6 GW of offshore wind on California’s coast. BOEM, the CEC and other agencies are taking steps to implement these initiatives.
The Offshore Wind Journal Conference will be held 14 June 2022. Details and tickets can be found here
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