Full Title: Northern California and Southern Oregon Offshore Wind Transmission Study
Author(s): Schatz Energy Research Center, Quanta Technology, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy (NREL), H. T. Harvey & Associates, Mott MacDonald, Inc., and Conaway Geomatics
Publisher(s): Schatz Energy Research Center
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Offshore wind (OSW) power based on floating technology in the coastal waters of the U.S. Pacific Ocean has great potential to contribute to climate mitigation and renewable energy goals in California, Oregon, and other parts of the western U.S. To achieve development of OSW at scale, investments in transmission infrastructure are needed to deliver this power to major metropolitan areas because these are the primary electricity load centers. Currently the transmission infrastructure serving coastal regions where OSW is most likely to be developed has limited capacity and is designed to bring power from the east to serve modest coastal loads. The development of OSW generation and the interconnection of this resource to the bulk power grid will require major investments in new transmission infrastructure and upgrades to existing infrastructure.