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In
a unanimous vote, the five-member California Energy Commission
(CEC) adopted a goal of 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts (MW) of
offshore wind by 2030 and 25,000 MW by 2045, the agency said in
a statement.
California has among the most aggressive climate change goals in
the country, but its foray into offshore wind has lagged that of
East Coast states like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts,
where the industry is more mature.
Projects off the California coast would require using floating
turbines, an emerging technology, because of the depth of the
outer continental shelf in the Pacific Ocean.
In a statement, the CEC said offshore wind would help the state
meet its goal of decarbonizing the electricity sector by 2045
because it can produce power after the sun goes down.
"This remarkable resource will generate clean electricity around
the clock and help us transition away from fossil fuel-based
energy as quickly as possible while ensuring grid reliability,"
CEC Chair David Hochschild said in a statement.
The CEC had been directed by a state law passed last year to
quantify the maximum amount of offshore wind that would be
achievable by 2030 and 2045.
The Business Network for Offshore Wind, an industry group, said
the goal is "the largest and furthest reaching offshore wind
goal of any state."
The Biden administration has a nationwide goal of generating 30
GW of power from offshore wind by 2030. To help meet that goal,
earlier this year the Interior Department proposed auctioning
five areas off the coast of California near Morro Bay off the
central coast and in the north near Humboldt County.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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