The departments of Energy and Interior have unveiled a joint strategic plan that aims to facilitate the generation 86,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind energy sources in the U.S. by 2050.
DOE said Friday the National Offshore Wind Strategy: Facilitating the Development of the Offshore Wind Industry in the U.S. is part of the Obama administration’s Climate Action Plan that seeks to reduce carbon emissions and create new jobs.
The collaborative strategy seeks to address offshore wind energy challenges over the next five years through three primary actions such as the creation of guidelines for standard data collection related to offshore wind development projects as well as development of a regulatory process for offshore wind energy to support effective stewardship.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced the strategy weeks after construction of the first U.S. offshore commercial wind farm in Rhode Island was completed.
“The first offshore wind farm has now finished construction, and we have gone from zero offshore wind areas leased before this administration to eleven areas that total the size of Rhode Island,†Moniz said.
DOE said the wind farm is designed to generate 30 megawatts of electricity for 17,000 households across New England and is scheduled to operate by the end of 2016.
