Offshore Wind California promotes policies and builds public support for responsible development of offshore wind power in California. As a coalition of industry partners, our members are dedicated to providing an independent voice and industry expertise to facilitate offshore wind deployment off California's coast. OWC engages in public education and advocacy in support of this renewable resource as part of a comprehensive solution to California's energy needs. Offshore Wind California is a nonprofit, 501(c)(6) organization.

Featured Video 

Going Big on California Offshore Wind – Setting a Course for 25 GW & Beyond (5:58)
Offshore Wind California, September 2023 

Watch the new video highlighting California offshore wind’s milestones and momentum, and essential next steps to deliver its benefits, coming out of the 2023 Pacific Offshore Wind Summit in Sacramento. “Twenty miles off California’s coast, in the deep blue Pacific Ocean waters, a clean-energy revolution is in the making. One that promises to bring big benefits to Golden State residents by creating new jobs and investment in our port communities and help California meet its climate, clean-energy, and grid-reliability goals. Large floating offshore wind turbines – assembled by California workers and spinning out-of-sight to most shore dwellers – are poised to play a vital role in ensuring the state’s renewable energy future as part of a diverse clean-power portfolio that keeps the lights on and electric grid humming around the clock… California is setting a course to be global leader and hub for floating offshore wind… The time to act is now.” 
Watch video here

Featured Event

Featured Speaker Forum

Central Coast Offshore Wind Information Session, San Luis Obispo, California, November 1, 2023

Watch the video playback of the Central Coast offshore wind public forum held in San Luis Obispo with federal and state policy makers and industry leaders on November 1, 2023. Offshore Wind California executive director, Adam Stern, spoke (starting at 2:04:00 of video playback) on an offshore wind industry panel moderated by SLO County Supervisor Bruce Gibson that also featured representatives from Morro Bay leaseholders, Erin Lieberman, Invenergy, Tyler Studds, Golden State Wind, and Martin Goff, Equinor, along with Molly Croll, ACP-CA. Mr. Stern highlighted the industry’s progress with the passage of AB 1373 and the other critical next steps California must take to bring offshore wind online. Also featured at the forum were U.S. Representatives Salud Carbajal and Jimmy Panetta, state Senator John Laird, Assemblymember Dawn Addis, California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild, and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management regional director Doug Boren. 
Click here for video playback and more details of the forum 

Featured Survey

New PPIC poll: 83% of Californians support offshore wind projects off CA coast, July 2023

See these encouraging results from the latest Public Policy Institute of California statewide survey on Californians and the Environment. When 1,722 adults were asked about “allowing wind power and wave energy projects off the California coast,” 83% of all adults favor them, including 70% of Republicans and 91% of Democrats. The total figure is up from 81% last year and 72% in 2019. Support for offshore wind is strong across all major demographic groups (click here for more details).

In the fall of 2022, Offshore Wind California, along with individual member companies, worked together to prepare a report on progress and developments in the state’s offshore wind power industry. This document, which updates a March 2021 report addressing questions from staff at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), aims to provide a resource to help inform policy makers, key stakeholders, and industry leaders as California moves forward to realize its new planning goals to generate up to 5 GW from offshore wind by 2030 and a nation-leading 25 GW by 2045.   

The November 2022 industry report includes an Executive Summary and 11 Sections that address the following topics: 1) Global Offshore Wind Expanding Rapidly, 2) U.S. East Coast Progress on Fixed-Bottom Foundations, 3) California’s 25 GW Goal for Floating Wind & Initial Lease Auction, 4) Cost Projections Declining for Floating Offshore Wind, 5) Permitting & Timeline to Meet California’s Goals, 6) Transmission to Connect Offshore Wind to California’s Grid, 7) Procurement of Offshore Wind at Scale, 8) Federal Initiatives to Reduce Costs & Save Ratepayers Billions, 9) Technology & Research – Going Big with Floating Wind, 10) Planning a Multi-Port Infrastructure Strategy, and 11) California Jobs, Workforce & Supply Chain. 
Read the full report here 

 

Offshore Wind Energy Development off the California Coast: Maximum Feasible Capacity and Megawatt Planning Goals for 2030 and 2045 — California Energy Commission, Updated Commission Report, Gov. Gavin Newsom, August 2022 

The May 6, 2022 draft report proposed a preliminary planning goal of 3,000 megawatts for 2030. For completing the strategic plan, the CEC instead establishes a preliminary planning goal range of 2,000 MW–5,000 MW (2 GW–5 GW) of offshore wind for 2030. The upper end of this range could come from a full build-out of the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area (WEA) or a combination of a partial build-out of the Morro Bay WEA and Humboldt WEA... The May draft report proposed to evaluate an additional 7,000–12,000 MW of offshore wind for 2045, establishing the total 2045 preliminary megawatt planning goals for the strategic plan at 10,000 MW to 15,000 MW (10 GW to 15 GW)... In light of the Governor’s call to adopt a more aspirational target, and on the basis of additional studies and comment received, the CEC establishes a preliminary planning goal of 25,000 MW (25 GW) for 2045... The MW planning goals will guide the development of the strategic plan for offshore wind in federal waters off the California coast under AB 525.  
Read full report here 

Featured Article

On with the Wind – Floating ‘farms' are key to powering California's clean-energy future 

By Jessica Wolfrom, San Francisco Examiner (front page), February 26, 2023 
A new kind of gold rush is underway on the West Coast – but this time, it's not underground. A short distance off California’s wild and rugged coastline, nearly 600 miles of ocean have been designated for the development of sprawling wind farms, a sign that the Pacific is fast becoming the next frontier of California's clean-energy economy… Last summer, the state set a goal to bring 25,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy online by mid-century… “We're talking about potentially 20% of California's electricity supply” coming from offshore wind, said Adam Stern, executive director of Offshore Wind California, a trade association. “To have a planning target like that to shoot for, it’s the kind of thing that got humans on the moon.”…  
Read more 

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