Groton Economic Development: Biden's Offshore Wind Plan Is Also A Jobs Plan

Groton CT

27 January, 2022

2:15 AM

Description

Press release from Groton Economic Development: January 26, 2022 The United States' struggling power grid is finally getting some major upgrades. Last week, the Biden administration announced a plan that, among other efforts, will aim to bring more sources of clean energy online and install more high-voltage transmission cables across the country to transport that power where it's needed. On the surface, it might seem like the plan is just building on the groundwork Biden laid when he signed the bipartisan infrastructure law in November. Parts of the framework released last week focus on the sort of nitty-gritty details that might make your eyes glaze over, such as how to improve the efficiency of reviewing clean energy projects on public lands and vague mentions of supporting clean energy expansion in rural areas. But what's really worth paying attention to are Biden's goals for offshore wind power, which is an important energy source for regions like the northeastern US that lack the space and ample sunlight that solar energy depends on. It's here that the new plan goes from mundane to ambitious, and it may be an indicator of how the administration intends to address issues related to climate change, energy, and jobs at the same time. Offshore wind power generation works similarly to how land-based wind turbines work (wind turns turbine blades around a rotor, which in turn spins a generator to make electricity) — only offshore turbines are rooted in the seafloor dozens of miles off the coast, where they can catch strong ocean winds. Those winds are something the North Atlantic has plenty of, which is why the Biden administration is focusing its initial offshore wind efforts there. As of today, the US has only seven offshore wind turbines — five in a wind farm off Rhode Island's Block Island, and two more set up as tests in Virginia. But on February 23, the federal government will auction offshore wind leases to utilities or offshore wind energy developers in an ocean region called the New York Bight, off the coasts of New York and New Jersey. The holders of those leases will then be able to set up wind farms in the area that generate up to 7 gigawatts of energy — enough to power about 2 million homes — which would require 600 to 700 turbines. This press release was produced by Groton Economic Development. The views expressed here are the author's own.