SPI Insights

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on March 29 announced its intent to partner with offshore wind and transmission developers to scale the industry by opening $3 billion in debt capital to facilitate the development of offshore wind access.

The news was part of a flurry of announcements that included information about a new wind energy area in the New York Bight between Long Island and the New Jersey coast.

Adjacent to the greater metropolitan Tri-State area — the largest metropolitan population center in the United States — this new wind energy area would serve more than 20 million people. The next step is for Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to publish a proposed sale notice, followed by a formal public comment period and a lease sale in late 2021 or early 2022.

By 2030, the departments of Interior, Energy, and Commerce plan to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind in the U.S. Meeting this target will trigger more than $12 billion per year in capital investment in projects on both U.S. coasts.

To position the domestic offshore wind industry to meet the 2030 target, the BOEM will advance new lease sales and complete review of at least 16 construction and operations plans by 2025, representing more than 19 GW of new clean energy for the nation.

In conjunction, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Maritime Administration announced a funding opportunity for port authorities and other applicants to apply for $230 million for port and intermodal infrastructure-related projects through the Port Infrastructure Development Program.

Port Infrastructure Development Grants support projects that strengthen and modernize port infrastructure, and can assist with shore-side wind energy projects, such as storage areas, laydown areas, and docking of wind energy vessels to load and move items to offshore wind farms.