The US offshore wind market ramped up construction activities and saw several new vessels launched in the second quarter of 2024. In total, the US reached 310 MW of installed offshore wind capacity, up 28 percent from the previous quarter. These and other key industry findings are detailed in Oceantic Network’s US Offshore Wind Quarterly Market Report, which highlights new vessel launches, regulatory advancements for several projects, and state-level developments that drove the US market forward between April and June 2024.
The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, Revolution Wind, and Vineyard Wind 1 are undergoing installation activities on the East Coast, with South Fork Wind already complete and delivering power to the grid. Once installation on the three projects is complete, they will provide over 4 GW of energy to the grid, powering approximately 1.4 million homes. Additionally, in the second quarter, Equinor broke ground on its South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, projected to create over 1,000 jobs in the construction of staging, pre-assembly, and operations and maintenance facilities for offshore wind. The New Jersey Wind Port, an offshore wind marshalling port, is also nearing completion.
Further market strength was showcased in the second quarter with the launch of the first US-built service operations vessel (SOV) for offshore wind, along with the launch of two new crew transfer vessels, marking the fifth and sixth to be delivered this year.
The second quarter of 2024 signals a summer of progress for the offshore wind industry as the supply chain continues to grow and more projects than ever are under construction. The report identified several further advancements, including:
- The Department of Interior announced a five-year plan for offshore wind leasing, which includes up to 12 potential lease area sales through 2028.
- The domestic supply chain made significant advancements last quarter with $300 million in new investments in shipbuilding and manufacturing across Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and Texas.
- New York opened a $200 million supply chain procurement round and finalised new offtake contracts for Empire Wind 1 (810 MW) and Sunrise Wind (924 MW).
- Over 4 GW of projects are now undergoing installation activities.
- New federal approvals increased ready-to-install capacity to over 13 GW.
- On the West Coast, California’s Independent System Operator (ISO) approved a $4.6 billion transmission infrastructure upgrade to support offshore wind development.