The volume of offshore wind projects, currently planned by states on the eastern seaboard alone, amounts to 30 gigawatts (GW). This much offshore wind would generate sufficient electricity to meet just under 20% of the total electricity needs of all states on the eastern seaboard from North Carolina to Maine. This 30 GW pipeline would have a total capital cost of around $120-bn and could result in almost $60-bn of investment in the US economy. In addition, it could create a US industry that would support 45,000 jobs by 2025 in addition to 80,000+ jobs, and $25-bn in annual economic output, by 2030.
As a result of the aforementioned 30 GW of state targets, there are TODAY more than twenty offshore projects, with a combined capacity of around 20 GW, that are in various stages of development and construction that are expected to be operational by 2030 off the U.S. east coast. These projects will have a total capital cost of around $80-billion and the amount of zero-emission electricity they generate will be equivalent to the total electricity consumption of 9 million average US homes.
Include California, Hawaii and the Gulf States; and the total North American pipeline of offshore wind is well in excess of 30 GW. And this is just the beginning. The Department of Energy estimates there could be 85 GW – representing $340-billion of investments – by 2050.