The California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted a strategic plan to guide the development of offshore wind energy off the central and northern coasts as part of the state’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2045. The plan calls for two to five gigawatts (GW) of floating offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045.
The three-volume report is the last of four reports required under Assembly Bill (AB) 525, which requires CEC to “evaluate and quantify the maximum feasible capacity of offshore wind to achieve reliability, ratepayer, employment, and decarbonization benefits” along with megawatt offshore wind planning goals for 2030 and 2045.
The three volumes cover:
The report incorporates three prior requirements of AB 525: (1) establish planning goals of 2,000 to 5,000 MW by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045; (2) provide a preliminary assessment of the economic benefit of offshore wind; and (3) provide a conceptual permitting roadmap.
The CEC and partner agencies will advance the strategic plan by “advancing and exploring the recommendations and strategies developed in the strategic plan.
Proposed Procurement Mechanism
In April, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requested comment on the need and process for centralized procurement of renewable energy resources with long lead times, including offshore wind. The CPUC is scheduled to publish a proposal in July for offshore wind procurement for the state.
AB 1373 authorized the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) to serve as a central procurement entity to procure diverse and clean energy resources until 2035. (see Clean Energy Procurement Mechanism Enacted.) Supporters of central procurement see it as critical to offshore wind, which is facing challenges to profitability from inflation, supply chain bottlenecks, and increasing financing costs. Offshore wind developers have not moved projects forward since the offshore lease auction in December 2022 and are waiting for California legislators to develop a procurement plan.