R46970 — U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Development: Overview and Issues for the 118th Congress

Offshore wind continues to be of interest as a potentially significant renewable energy resource for the United States. Offshore wind power relies on turbines constructed in bodies of water, which use wind to generate electricity. According to some estimates, offshore regions of the contiguous United States and Hawaii have the net technical potential to generate more than 13 million gigawatt hours per year of wind-based electricity—more than three times the amount of electricity used annually in the United States in recent years—although these estimates do not take into account economic feasibility. The Biden Administration has announced a government-wide effort to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030 and a related goal to deploy 15 GW of installed floating offshore wind capacity by 2035. Thirty gigawatts would be equivalent to more than 2% of the U.S. utility-scale electricity generating capacity and approximately 23% of total U.S. wind electricity generating capacity (which currently comes almost entirely from onshore development). Several U.S. offshore wind projects have been developed, or are under development, in state-owned and federally owned waters. In state waters, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island began commercial operations in 2016. To date, no projects in federal waters have progressed to the point of electricity generation, except a two-turbine pilot project off the Virginia coast. Department of the Interior (DOI) officials have approved the construction and operations plans for four commercial-scale projects on federal leases: Vineyard Wind off the coast of Massachusetts (approved May 2021), South Fork Wind off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts (approved November 2021), Ocean Wind 1 off the coast of New Jersey (approved July 2023), and Revolution Wind off the coast of Rhode Island (approved August 2023). DOI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which oversees leasing and permitting of offshore wind projects on the U.S. outer continental shelf, has awarded additional leases for wind energy in the Atlantic and Pacific regions that are at earlier stages of development. BOEM also held an August 2023 lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico region. Congress has debated whether—and, if so, how and to what extent—to promote the development of U.S. offshore wind energy. For example, P.L. 117-169, commonly known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, appropriated funding for offshore wind transmission planning and established new tax credits available to offshore wind developers and manufacturers, among other provisions. Some stakeholders seek to further expedite federal offshore wind leasing to assist coastal states in meeting renewable power commitments, facilitate a transition away from fossil fuel energy, and promote employment in the offshore wind sector. Others have expressed concerns that offshore wind leasing may be proceeding too quickly, especially given potential conflicts with other ocean uses, such as fishing; potential impacts of offshore wind development on birds and marine mammals; and issues related to the variability of wind as an energy source. Congress also may continue to consider offshore wind deployment issues related to domestic capacity for infrastructure installation, physical connections to deliver offshore wind power to the onshore power grid, and domestic electricity markets to sell into competitively. Additional issues concern the optimal disposition of federal revenues from offshore wind development, including the extent to which future revenues should be shared with coastal states.

Curated by CRS — every bill listed in this report's relatedMaterials. Edge type cited_in_report, gold confidence.

• HR 4936 — NOW Act · 118th Cong
• HR 4284 — Northeast Fisheries Heritage Protection Act · 118th Cong
• HR 2811 — Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 · 118th Cong
• HR 2741 — Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2023 · 118th Cong
• HR 1335 — TAPP American Resources Act · 118th Cong
• HR 970 — Preserving the Gulf Test Range to Ensure Military Readiness Act · 118th Cong
• HR 913 — RISEE Act of 2023 · 118th Cong
• S 373 — RISEE Act of 2023 · 118th Cong
• S 279 — Preserving the Gulf Test Range to Ensure Military Readiness Act · 118th Cong
• HR 1 — Lower Energy Costs Act · 118th Cong