The plans from the White House, DOE, and other federal agencies include a 20-month study on how to build out transmission networks that would link the West Coast’s grid to first-of-their-kind floating wind projects.
California said it was joining another Biden-backed initiative known as the Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership, which consists of federal agencies and state officials and is aiming to encourage manufacturing and workforce training for future offshore wind projects, including floating technologies.
Last September, DOE said it wants to cut the cost of floating offshore wind power by 70 percent by 2035 — a goal known as its Floating Offshore Wind Shot (E&E News PM, Sept. 15, 2022).
The floating offshore wind target is intended to address multiple challenges holding back the technology.