Offshore Wind Power Coming to California

California Currents

Offshore wind power is heading the Golden State’s way, first to serve the Redwood Coast Energy Authority, a panel of energy experts at a California Community Choice Association webinar said Feb. 26. This renewable technology has already gained favor in Europe, Asia, and on the East Coast of the U.S.

The Redwood Coast authority project is expected to be operational as early as 2027. It will supply 120-150 MW of wind power from floating turbines that will be moored about 25 miles off the coast of Eureka.

Technology that allows the mooring of large floating turbines to California’s deep seafloor is “now available,” Matthew Marshall, Redwood Coast Energy Authority executive director, said.

Currently, a lease application for the project, expected to be California’s first offshore wind facility, is pending with the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, according to Marshall.

Other areas off the California Coast also have world class wind resources. That includes off Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo County, where coastal power plants linked to the state’s power grid by transmissions lines are slated to close.

West Ocean Winds is developing the Humboldt project, along with other companies, including Aker Offshore Wind. Aker is a San Francisco-based firm that builds floating platforms for offshore wind turbines in the Bay Area.

The platforms would be towed from San Francisco Bay to Humboldt Bay in Eureka, where turbine towers would be mounted before towing them out to sea, Tyler Studds, head of project development for West Ocean Winds, said.

Read more here: Offshore Wind Power Coming to California – CA Current