Full Title: West Coast Offshore Wind Transmission Literature Review and Gaps Analysis
Author(s): T. Douville, M. Severy, J. Eisdorfer, L. He, and B. Pamintuan
Publisher(s): United States Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO)
Publication Date: February 16, 2023
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
To access the nation’s most robust wind energy resources on the West Coast, electric transmission facilities need to be coordinated and developed. West Coast wind resources are located over waters hundreds to thousands of feet deep, requiring floating turbine foundations and substations to meet engineering challenges. Most of the best wind resources are in areas with limited nearby electricity transmission capacity, making it difficult to interconnect large wind projects to customer load. West coast topography, location of load centers, requirements for floating generation and transmission components, state decarbonization policies, and electricity policies, markets, and transmission networks present unique considerations. If guided intentionally, west coast offshore wind may provide critical contributions to the bulk electricity transmission system through geographic and technological diversity. However, modifying transmission systems to accommodate these resources incurs long planning processes, uncertain siting requirements and construction timelines, and potentially high costs. Thus, planning and developing transmission for floating offshore wind energy has arisen as a technical challenge that should be evaluated alongside wind resource potential and the maturation of floating offshore wind technology.