Biden's ocean wind target comes into view
- Ben Geman, author of Axios Generate
There's already enough offshore wind power in the U.S. development pipeline to exceed the White House target of 30 gigawatts of capacity by 2030, per S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Why it matters: Marine wind power, a largely untapped resource in the U.S., is among the tools that can help decarbonize the country's electricity.
The big picture: Big players like Ørsted, BP, Shell and others are developing projects off New York, Massachusetts and other states, with a total of 30.7 GW in the pipeline, per S&P. (A gigawatt is 1,000 megawatts.)
- The Biden administration has greenlit two Atlantic Coast projects, and plans more leasing and approvals, as well as making Gulf Coast and Pacific Ocean regions available.
Yes, but: S&P sees a "time crunch" on the 2030 goal. It projects over 4.7 GW of capacity installed by 2025 if schedules are met, and 16.2 GW completed in 2025-2030. But projects totaling over 8 GW "have not disclosed in-service dates."