Washington leaders on Wednesday launched an initiative to support companies in the state that want to play a role in the offshore wind energy sector. The nonprofit Washington Maritime Blue is leading the collaboration, which is dubbed Blue Wind.
The Biden administration set a target of generating 30 gigawatts of offshore wind electricity by the end of this decade, which would be enough power for more than 10 million American homes. That goal and the programs that bolster it have helped to nearly double the demand for offshore wind in the U.S. last year, according to an industry trade group.
“This is truly one of the largest maritime opportunities since the advent of the shipping container,” said Maritime Blue CEO Joshua Berger in a statement. “The Blue Wind collaborative will define the roadmap and innovation path to ensuring Washington state’s role as we coordinate these efforts throughout the West Coast.”
Much of the sector’s focus has been on the Eastern Seaboard, but there is growing interest on the West Coast. Oregon and California anticipate deploying floating offshore wind energy by 2030, while Washington does not yet have a process for facilitating the projects.
Despite the lack of plans for Washington installations, leaders argue the state is positioned to participate in the supply chain thanks to the area’s advanced manufacturing expertise, deepwater ports and skilled labor.
Blue Wave’s initial annual budget is $485,000 with funding roughly evenly split between public and privates sources that include federal, state and port dollars, as well as foundations, industry and labor, and seed funding. The effort’s objective is to identify the supply chain opportunities available to Washington companies and organize events to strategize and act on those opportunities.
Berger joined Gov. Jay Inslee; officials from the Ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett; the president of the local longshoremen union; and a vice president of Foss Offshore Wind to kick off the effort at an event at the Northwest Seaport Alliance in Seattle.
The initiative is one of multiple programs to bolster Washington’s historic maritime industries, which includes plans for a Maritime Innovation Center in Seattle to house multiple startup accelerators.
