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If newly minted President Trump carries through on his promise to blow up the offshore wind industry, public officials in the deep red state of Louisiana are probably hoping they don’t get hit by the falling debris. Well, here’s hoping. Louisiana has been cultivating a zesty business in offshore wind services and supply chain ventures, and apparently the President of the United States is content to see all that hard work go to waste.
Louisiana Built The First Offshore Wind Farm In The US
Louisiana’s leading role in the US offshore wind industry surfaced during the Obama administration. Offshore service businesses in the state were instrumental in the design and construction of the Block Island wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, which commenced operations in 2016.
That was just for starters. The organization Louisiana Offshore wind now lists Virginia, Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts among the offshore projects serviced by surveyors, engineers, and shipbuilders based in Louisiana.
“With the largest port complex in the Western Hemisphere and a vast maritime workforce, Louisiana has the infrastructure, geography, and skilled labor needed to capitalize on this rapidly growing industry,” explains LOW.
The action includes launch of the new ECO EDISON offshore service vessel last year, billed as the first US-flagged ship purpose-built for installing wind turbines. That’s a key milestone because purpose-built vessels provide wind developers with the advantages of a streamlined construction schedule.
“The state’s extensive experience in developing and maintaining infrastructure for the oil and gas industry, along with its port infrastructure and wealth of expertise in offshore fabrication and vessel building constitute a strong foundation for building out the offshore wind industry in the Gulf of Mexico,” LOW emphasizes.
More Offshore Wind For Louisiana, Trump Or No Trump
The Trump offshore wind stoppage pledge may have some teeth because offshore leases in the US fall under the jurisdiction of a federal agency, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the Department of the Interior.
Nevertheless, all is not lost for wind services and supply chain stakeholders in Louisiana. In December of 2023, the Louisiana Mineral and Energy Board gave initial approval for two offshore projects that have an escape route from the Trump chopping block. They are located in state waters, beyond the jurisdiction of BOEM. One is the Diamond Offshore Wind project off the coast of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, helmed by developer Mitsubishi. The other is the Cajun Wind project off the coast of Cameron Parish, with Vestas at the steering wheel.
Neither project has publicized any key milestones in the past year, which is not unusual given the typical pace of major energy projects. Still, even if both projects are still active, they are not likely to support a growth trajectory for Louisiana’s offshore wind industry.
“No details were offered on the potential size of the wind farms or timing, with the New Orleans newspaper The Times-Picayune quoting sources saying the projects were unlikely to be large wind farms, but would have the advantages of being near-shore projects,” Maritime Executive reported on December 13 of 2023.
BOEM To Louisiana: Just Look What You’ll Be Missing
Regardless of what happens with those two projects, Louisiana is counting on the furtherance of offshore activity in other states to fuel its economy. Absent interference from the Trump administration, the haul is a big one. LOW cites the organization American Clean Power Association, which estimates that $65 billion will be invested in offshore wind projects by 2030, supporting thousands of new jobs across the US.
“Almost 25% of all US contracts by volume in offshore wind are already going to businesses in Louisiana and other Gulf states – this is a strong start, and there is ample room for additional growth here in Louisiana,” LOW enthuses.
Dream on, Klingon. Louisiana and other Gulf states can kiss that additional growth good-bye if Trump puts the damper on the US offshore wind industry. As if to remind everyone of that, last week BOEM stamped its seal of approval on a construction plan for the massive 2.4 gigawatt SouthCoast Wind project, to be located off the coast of Massachusetts.
The BOEM decision marks the final milestone of the approval process towards start of construction. If the Trump administration finds a way to throw a monkey wrench into the works, Massachusetts won’t be the only one to feel the hurt. Louisiana and other Gulf states will miss out, too. SouthCoast (formerly Mayflower Wind) is currently scouting for local contractors in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but other Atlantic Coast wind developers are competing for local talent, and it will take a village to launch a project of that size.
“The approved [SouthCoast] project includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbine generators and up to five offshore substation platforms located at a maximum of 143 positions, and up to eight offshore export cables located in up to two corridors,” BOEM notes.
Next Steps For US Offshore Wind Industry
Oh, the irony, it burns. When the US wind industry was just starting up in the early 2000’s, wind lease approvals were tossed in the lap of the US Army Corps of Engineers, where they played second fiddle to more traditional energy projects. It wasn’t until 2009 that BOEM was set up to accelerate the US offshore industry and help developers avoid unforeseen risks, too. BOEM put the final touches on its new, streamlined lease process during the first Trump administration, just in time for former President Biden to unleash the offshore floodgates.
So, will Trump do for the US offshore wind industry this time around what he did for it the first time? Only time will tell. In the meantime, offshore stakeholders have been pulling out all the stops in an effort to rally state office holders to their side, emphasizing that the economic benefits go beyond blue state interests to spread across 40 states regardless of political affiliation.
Last week the trade organization Oceantic Network, for example, posted its new Offshore Energy at Work report, hoping to draw attention to the thousands of people employed at shipyards, factories, and ports around the US.
Oceantic notes that the US offshore wind industry currently supports almost 2,000 supplier contracts, including $1.8 billion in orders for ships among 21 domestic shipyards. They also observe that the offshore investment supply chain pot is boiling at the rate of $25 billion, with the US steelmaking and shipbuilding industries among the beneficiaries.
Come to think of it, isn’t there a new “green” steel plant in Kentucky where hundreds of people are making low-carbon steel plate for use by the offshore wind industry? There is! For now, at least…
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Photo (cropped): The new 2.4-gigawatt SouthCoast Wind offshore wind project nailed down approval for a construction plan in a federal lease area off the coast of Massachusetts, just in time for Inauguration Day (courtesy of Ocean wind).
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