Report: Turbines off the West Coast could ‘potentially triple’ Pacific Northwest’s wind power capability

Climate change is continuously changing the environmental realities of cities and counties across the United States. Local governments and public administrators are working hard to mitigate the long-term impacts by electrifying the grid. A new report from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory analyzes the potential of one of these green energy solutions—offshore wind energy production, which could supplement existing energy generation from other technologies and land-based wind generation.

“Along a 200-mile stretch of ocean off the coast of southern Oregon and northern California, floating wind farms could potentially triple the Pacific Northwest’s wind power capacity while offsetting potentially billions of dollars in costs for utilities, ratepayers, insurance companies, and others across the West who bear the cost of climate change’s effects,” reads a brief about the report’s findings. The report was produced for the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Given the increasing demands being put on the nation’s grid–as technologies like electric vehicles grow in popularity–researchers highlighted a need for reliable and diversified energy production. Unlike fossil fuel-based energy production, green energy like solar panels is reliant on nature, requiring constant sun to operate at their highest capacity. 

Likewise, wind blowing over land is influenced by topography, weather and atmospheric conditions, researchers noted. Offshore energy production has a distinct advantage in this respect because over-ocean wind currents are more predictable. Turbines that are floating or attached to the ocean floor reliably produce a consistent amount of energy, according to Mark Severy, a research engineer at PNNL and coauthor on the report, in the brief. While there are a lot more land-based wind farms, the report notes that offshore energy generation can fill in gaps when energy production from other sources fluctuates. 

“OSW (offshore wind) on the U.S. West Coast is a resource that poses system value today through diversification of a renewable energy resource portfolio, rather than on a leading cost of energy basis,” the report says.

Wind farms on land “already produce more than 140 gigawatts of energy, contributing to about 10% of the nation’s energy portfolio,” the brief says. The federal government is planning to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, and 110 gigawatts by 2050. The report estimates that energy output at that level could power “tens of millions of homes and cut more than 78 million metric tons of carbon emissions.”

While the potential is there, more research needs to be done before it can be taken advantage of. 

“One challenge is determining whether already existing transmission infrastructure could support incoming energy from offshore wind,” the brief says. Additionally, the resilience of underwater transmission lines to the ocean water must also be considered, and maintaining them would be difficult—especially if they’re buried deeply. 

With the challenges, researchers noted potential for savings in the report. Installing wind turbines in the areas off the West Coast studied by researchers would produce an estimated $127 million to $6 billion, at a net cost of between $795 million to $1.6 billion. 

For more information and to view the full report, visit the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory‘s website.