Biden boosts offshore wind energy
Wants to power 10 million homes
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is moving to sharply increase offshore wind energy along the East Coast, saying Monday it is taking initial steps toward approving a huge wind farm off the New Jersey coast as part of an effort to generate electricity for more than 10 million homes nationwide by 2030.
Meeting the target could mean jobs for more than 44,000 workers and for 33,000 others in related employment, the White House said.
“DOE is going to marshal every resource we have to get as many American companies, using as many sheets of American steel, employing as many American workers as possible in offshore wind energy — driving economic growth from coast to coast,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
Ocean Wind, a project 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey, is projected to produce about 1,100 megawatts a year, enough to power 500,000 homes.
The Interior Department has previously announced environmental reviews for Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork wind farm about 35 miles east of Montauk Point in Long Island, N.Y. Vineyard Wind is expected to produce about 800 megawatts of power and South Fork about 132 megawatts.
White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said President Biden “believes we have an enormous opportunity in front of us to not only address the threats of climate change, but use it as a chance to create millions of good-paying, union jobs that will fuel America’s economic recovery.
“Nowhere is the scale of that opportunity clearer than for offshore wind.”
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it is targeting offshore wind projects in shallow waters between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. A recent study shows the area can support up to 25,000 development and construction jobs by 2030.
Vineyard Wind is slated to become operational in 2023, with Ocean Wind following a year later.
Not everyone is cheering the rise of offshore wind. Fishing groups from Maine to Florida have expressed fear that large offshore wind projects could render huge swaths of the ocean off-limits to their catch.
Biden’s announcement Monday comes after remarks by Massachusetts House Speaker Ronald Mariano, who told the Boston Chamber of Commerce last week, “The United States is on the cusp of an offshore wind energy revolution, and Massachusetts should lead the way.”