White House Convenes Governors, Labor Leaders, and Private Companies to Boost Offshore Wind Supply Chains, Lower Energy Costs, and Support Manufacturing Jobs
Today, the White House is joining with eleven governors from up and down the East Coast to launch a new Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership that will accelerate the growing offshore wind industry. The partnership will support efforts to provide Americans with cleaner and cheaper energy, create good-paying jobs, and make historic investments in new American energy supply chains, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and servicing.
As a first step of this Partnership, the White House and governors are announcing commitments to collaborate on expanding key elements of the offshore wind supply chain, from manufacturing facilities to port capabilities to workforce development. The Administration is also announcing steps to advance a National Offshore Wind Supply Chain Roadmap and designating offshore wind vessels as Vessels of National Interest to facilitate more offshore wind construction.
After years of Americans facing energy uncertainty, President Biden has taken decisive action to jumpstart the American offshore wind industry. He set a bold goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes with clean energy, support 77,000 jobs, and spur $12 billion per year in private investment in offshore wind projects. Since then, the Biden Administration has approved the first large-scale projects, established new wind energy areas, and held record-breaking wind auctions-signature achievements that advance the President's commitment to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen American energy security.
These bold actions have unleashed historic private sector investments to expand an American-made wind energy supply chain. In 2021 alone, investors announced $2.2 billion in new funding, including commitments to develop nine major manufacturing facilities to produce the foundations, towers, cables, and blades of offshore wind turbines. Supplier contracts to provide materials and services to offshore wind projects more than doubled. And historic project labor agreements are helping to grow a diverse union workforce and support training programs.
More opportunities are ahead, including an estimated $109 billion revenue opportunity across the offshore wind supply chain this decade, and East Coast Governors are laying the groundwork to seize them. Having already set commitments to procure nearly 40 GW of offshore wind, these states are providing a strong demand signal for clean energy that will lower energy costs for American families while protecting them from volatile fossil fuel price spikes. Collaboration between state and federal governments already is helping to create good-paying jobs and establish a durable domestic supply chain to facilitate the responsible development of America's world-class offshore wind resource. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to further partnering with states to maximize benefits to American workers and communities.
That's why today at the White House, alongside labor and industry leaders, Governors will join National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Rick Spinrad to:
- Launch the Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership: Eleven leading states along the East Coast will participate in this new Partnership, a first-of-its-kind forum for collaboration between federal and state officials to accelerate offshore wind progress. The partners will work together to build a strong, U.S.-based supply chain for offshore wind, grow a skilled U.S. workforce, and build on work to address important regional matters such as transmission and interconnection, fishing and other ocean co-use issues, and other key priorities. The Federal-State Partnership will look to expand to the West Coast and the Gulf of Mexico as offshore wind energy projects develop in those regions.
- Leverage State and Federal Actions to Strengthen the U.S. Offshore Wind Supply Chain: As a first step of this new Partnership, the Biden Administration and Governors are endorsing a set of federal, state, and mutual commitments to expand key elements of the supply chain, including manufacturing facilities for offshore wind components, port capabilities, logistics networks needed to install projects, and workforce development to fill good-paying jobs. Working together, federal and state partners will track progress, anticipate future needs, and collaborate on a regional and national basis.
- Advance the National Offshore Wind Supply Chain Roadmap: The Department of Energy, along with New York and Maryland, is providing funding to develop a comprehensive offshore wind supply chain roadmap, through a collaboration led by the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium and with partners including the Business Network for Offshore Wind. As part of this effort, in March 2022 the National Renewable Energy Laboratory released a report on supply chain needs, including manufactured components, ports, and vessels, to deploy 30 GW by 2030. Today, Secretary Granholm will announce a July workshop for stakeholders, including state officials, to provide input on a roadmap, for release later this year, laying out actions to meet these supply chain needs.
- Announce Priority Financing for Offshore Wind Vessels: Constructing offshore wind projects requires specialized installation vessels, and projections from the National Offshore Wind Supply Chain Roadmap show that U.S. and global vessel supply will need to increase to meet and accelerate offshore wind deployment. Today, the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) is announcing the designation of offshore wind vessels as Vessels of National Interest for support through the Federal Ship Financing Program, giving these applications priority for review and funding. The program assists the domestic shipbuilding industry, providing support for U.S. shipyards to modernize their facilities, to build and retrofit vessels, and to assist U.S shipowners to cost-effectively obtain domestically produced new vessels.
Today's announcements build on the President Biden's leadership in launching the American offshore wind industry. His Administration has already:
- Approved the nation's first two commercial-scale offshore wind projects, Vineyard Wind and South Fork Wind, both now under construction and being built by union labor. The Department of the Interior (DOI) initiated the review of an additional 10 projects that, if approved, represent 22 GW of clean new energy for the nation.
- Announced an ambitious leasing strategy for the DOI to hold up to seven offshore wind auctions by 2025-two of which were held earlier this year-including areas in Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, Central Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico, as well as offshore the Carolinas, California, and Oregon.
- Held a record-breaking wind lease sale in the New York Bight, bringing in $4.37 billion in winning bids for areas with the potential to power nearly two million homes. DOI also joined with New York and New Jersey to launch a shared vision on offshore wind supply chain development, with a focus on delivering benefits to underserved communities. The Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership will build on these efforts.
- Utilized Lease Provisions to Leverage Union Jobs and Supply Chain Development to Accelerate Wind Development: The historic New York Bight lease sale included incentives to source major components like blades, turbines and foundations domestically and encouraged use of project labor agreements to ensure that these projects are built as quickly and safely as possible. Last month, DOI's Carolina Long Bay lease sale included a new credit for bidders who committed to support workforce training programs or U.S. supply chain development, generating $42 million in funding.
