NREL recently released two reports analyzing two different deployment scenarios of offshore wind both in Hawaii and Oregon [1] [2]. The studies were commissioned by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) which is part U.S. Department of the Interior, thereby showing the interest of the U.S government to pave the way for future investments. The studies showed significant job creation and GDP increase potential.

For Hawaii the study found that deploying 400 MW of floating offshore wind, even while assuming minimal in-state supply chain could add up to 540 million USD to Hawaii’s GDP during the project’s 25 year lifetime.

In the case of Oregon the scenarios studied were 5500 MW or 2900 MW by 2050. The floating wind farms of the 5500 MW scenario would create up to a 3.3 billion USD increase to the state’s GDP during the construction phases in between 2020 and 2050, while up to 97000 job-years could also be created. During operation, the floating wind farms could secure up to 350 million USD and 3400 jobs annually.

The impacts were found to grow even further for the bigger deployments as they would likely attract bigger in-state supply chains. At Windcrete we think this would be the case with the use of our technology, as it can be made with materials and workforce commonly available and with regional impact.

[1] NREL. (2016, April). Floating Offshore Wind in Hawaii: Potential for Jobs and Economic Impacts from Two Future Scenarios. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved July 11, 2016, from http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/65481.pdf

[2] NREL. (2016, May). Floating Offshore Wind in Oregon: Potential for Jobs and Economic Impacts from Two Future Scenarios. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved July 11, 2016, from http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/65421.pdf