Offshore wind proposal is a cool breeze

A strong breeze on a hot summer day. Is there anything better? Yes, actually.

A proposal for a new, massive offshore wind energy farm bigger than the city of Houston promises to take that Gulf Coast breeze and put it to work generating electricity for some 2.3 million homes, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Part of a larger proposal from the Biden administration, the 546,645-acre farm 24 miles off the coast of Galveston would be just the latest in a boom of offshore activity along the nation’s coasts. With support from federal and state governments, improving technology and several rounds of offshore wind leases this year, the industry has seen a burst of activity recently. .

The speed has been particularly impressive to Luke Metzger, executive director with research and advocacy group Environment Texas. “Government doesn’t always move quickly,” Metzger told the editorial board in an email, “and I've been impressed that BOEM hit the ground running and could start leasing the Gulf for wind as soon as this fall. At the same time, they've taken care to weigh in public comments and work to mitigate environmental concerns.”

Offshore wind energy would only strengthen an already growing renewable energy industry here.

Texas leads in onshore wind energy, which has grown to be a staple part of the state’s energy mix. Drive through West Texas and you’ll see endless expanses of turbines. True, there is a mismatch between the high demand for energy on scorching summer afternoons and when onshore wind picks up during the evenings. But ERCOT’s attempt to blame wind for the grid’s tight conditions earlier this summer is just hot air since no one expects wind to blow at the same speed around the clock.

One pleasant exception, as Texas Monthly’s Dan Solomon pointed out: onshore wind farms along the coast tend to do better on those “stultifying summer days.” Offshore wind farms, meanwhile, could potentially do even better still and help fill possible energy production gaps, harvesting the most energy during summer afternoons as well as evening hours when solar’s productivity wanes.

In a state where bracing for grid failures now seems to be the new normal, the power generated from a citysized offshore wind farm would be a welcome bit of relief indeed.

There’s a lot still up in the air, as it were, for the proposal, which also includes a 188,023-acre wind energy farm on the coast of Lake Charles, La. In the public comment period, the plans would need to undergo environmental impact reviews and the actual leasing process, though Metzger said so far he’s been heartened to see that “there's a good bit of distance between the wind energy areas and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary,” for example, and that the proposal seems to take into account previous comments from Environment Texas, the National Wildlife Federation and other environmental groups that urged BOEM to consider “hotspots of species abundance” as well as “areas of rare environmental significance” when selecting potential locations.

In the end, whether energy produced at the potential wind farm off the Galveston coastmakes its way to Texas and Houston would be up to developers and state officials, according to Houston Chronicle reporter Shelby Webb. Part of that decision comes to down to the payoff for developers as they weigh the costs of construction with the potential power contracts down the line as well as infrastructure needs to deliver the energy and considerations that come with production on federal lands.

There are also a number of other concerns to work out with the Gulf Coast proposal, including how the development might affect fishing and shrimping outfits. The comment and review process should help all those issues shake out but for now, we’re tantalized by the promise of a good breeze.

State leaders have been shy about praising renewable resources such as solar and wind, even hampering their affordability with imposed “reliability costs” that amount to little but favoritism for coal, natural gas and nuclear after the 2021 winter storm. But the truth is, Texas is a leader. The state leads the natural gas boom that lowered greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the number of coal plants. It leads in onshore wind. Now Texas solar is expanding tremendously, with some clutch grid performances this summer already.

The state should get behind its own success here and tout the climatefriendly, job-growing industry of renewables as part of a multi-pronged and robust energy system.

A summer breeze might be priceless but soon, it could pay off.