Offshore Wind Transmission

The Business Network for Offshore Wind (Network) is the only 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization exclusively devoted to developing the U.S. offshore wind industry and supply chain. As a result, the Network is uniquely positioned to speak with one leading voice for the U.S. offshore wind business community.

A key objective of many state-level OSW programs, and a central tenet of the Network’s mission, is to attract investment in U.S.-based OSW manufacturing facilities and related services. To realize this opportunity, investors and OSW developers must see a steady, predictable, and sustainable pipeline of OSW projects taking shape in the U.S. When the capacity of the existing onshore electricity grid is reached, and low-cost points of interconnection have been utilized, these grid/interconnection constraints could arrest the future growth of the U.S. OSW project pipeline.

The objective of this white paper is to outline grid and transmission recommendations to inform grid operators and U.S. policymakers in the many local, state, and federal regulatory bodies that possess some degree of regulatory responsibility for U.S. offshore wind development and electric transmission. A comprehensive document of this kind has not previously been produced, and it is incumbent upon the U.S. OSW industry to provide input and fill the gap. This white paper may not exhaustively answer every conceivable question now. Nonetheless, at a minimum, on behalf of the industry, we outlined and assessed policy options to facilitate the integration of no less than 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity into the electric grid by 2035.

The white paper was developed via a collaborative and iterative process that leveraged the depth and breadth of knowledge of the Network’s Grid and Transmission Working Group (G&T WG), a select group of participants drawn from the Business Network’s Leadership-level membership. The G&T WG was convened and facilitated on behalf of the Network by Fara Courtney, of Outer Harbor Consulting. To assist in finalizing the white paper, the Network retained nationally recognized transmission experts, Rob Gramlich and Michael Goggin, of Grid Strategies LLC. Consensus-building is intended to be a central aim of this white paper process, but we recognize that opinions can – and will – diverge. With a vision of the deployment of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity in U.S. waters by 2035, we present this white paper.