May 26, 2021 — The Biden administration plans to open the California coast to offshore wind development, ending a long-running stalemate with the Department of Defense that has been the biggest barrier to building wind power along the Pacific Coast.
The move adds momentum to the administration’s goal of reaching 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035, coming just weeks after the country’s first large-scale offshore wind farm was approved off the coast of New England. Today, the country has just a handful of offshore wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean, with around a dozen wind farms being developed in federal waters off the East Coast.
“It’s an announcement that will set the stage for the long-term development of clean energy and the growth of a brand-new, made-in-America industry,” national climate adviser Gina McCarthy says. “Now we’re thinking big and thinking bold.”
The agreement identifies two sites off central and Northern California with the potential to install massive floating wind turbines that could produce 4.6 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power 1.6 million homes.
Interest in offshore wind on the West Coast has grown for years, especially with California’s own ambitious goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The deep waters off the coast have the potential to produce a significant amount of energy.