As the decade mark nears for the concept of floating offshore wind energy here, and the new Trump administration appearing to be in opposition to the whole concept, 2025 could mark either a turning point, a timeout or possibly a brick wall.
Estero Bay News sought out updates from the three companies that won the auctions for leases in the so-called Morro Bay Call Area, a nearly 400-square mile patch of ocean 20-30 miles off San Simeon.
EBN sent queries to Equinor, dba Atlas Wind; Energize Ventures (Invenergy) dba Even Keel Wind; and Golden State Wind seeking updates on where their projects stand going into 2025 and what they hope to further accomplish this year?
Somewhat surprisingly, all three responded promptly.
Next Steps
Equinor/Atlas Wind’s spokesperson, Tibi Dean, said, “At this time, Atlas Wind does not have any surveying or offshore work scheduled in 2025. Members of the team will use this time to analyze the substantial data already collected from last year’s survey activity.”
Atlas Wind will use this pause to look at the data they’ve already collected when they utilized underwater robots to use sound waves to map the seafloor, looking for things like rocks and reefs that would be avoided when the final design is done on where the wind turbines will be set, and the route the transmission cables will travel to bring the energy ashore.
“This analysis will guide the next steps for the development of the lease area,” Dean said. “In addition to using this time for data analysis, stakeholder engagement remains a priority.”
Meanwhile, they will continue with their public relations efforts. “There continues to be ongoing collaboration and information sharing at the local and state level, including Tribal communities and the commercial fishing industry.”
So, in sum, Atlas Wind’s work in 2025 won’t be out on the ocean. “No offshore work is scheduled for this year,” Dean said.
Golden State Wind CEO, Tyler Studds said, “Golden State Wind believes in the potential of our offshore wind project to provide new energy generation to meet increasing demand for electricity.”
They plan to push forward this year, with an eye on the long term. “Just as floating offshore wind in California is a long-term energy resource,” Studds said, “it is also a long-term development process. We will continue to progress our project in 2025.”
Some of that work includes to: “deploy two metocean buoys to characterize the marine environment in our lease area this year and we have an information sheet on this permitted site assessment activity publicly available on our website (see: www.goldenstatewind.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Metocean-Buoy-Flyer-2024).
“The meteorological and oceanographic — metocean — data collected will inform the design and engineering of the Golden State Wind project to the most stringent health, safety and environmental standards.”
Golden State Wind, too, will continue its engagements with the stakeholders. “Additionally, Golden State Wind will continue community engagement work this year guided by our commitment to responsible development and building long-lasting partnerships with coastal communities and ocean users.”
As for Even Keel Wind, they also plan to continue with their studies. “Even Keel Wind,” reads a statement from Invenergy’s Daniel Runyan, the Senior Vice President and Head of Offshore Wind Development, “is in the early stages of a decade-long offshore wind development process in support of California’s energy goals.
“Our focus is on relationship building across the Central Coast Region, while also advancing early-stage development priorities, including planning for future survey work.”
EBN asked all three about the costs they’ve incurred so far, beyond the initial auction prices — $130 million from Equinor (for 80,062 acres); $150 million from Golden State Wind (80,418 ac. originally sold to Central California Offshore Wind, LLC); and, $145 million from Invenergy/Even Keel Wind (for 80,418 ac. Originally sold to California Offshore, LLC), and none would give a figure.
“We do not disclose financial information for specific projects,” replied Dean. “Atlas Wind is an early phase floating offshore wind project and we see its development as a long-term opportunity.”
The other two didn’t address the question at all with their responses.
Long Winding Road
The idea of floating offshore wind farms off the Central Coast arose in 2016 when Alla Weinstein of Trident Wind (originally called Castle Wind), pitched the idea here and really hatched the whole concept of tapping the limitless wind energy blowing off the California Coast.
Weinstein worked with Congress, the Senate and the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), running location after location past the Navy, which vetoed every site until finally settling on the area off San Simeon.
The focus fell on Morro Bay because of the closed power plant and its ready access to the Power Grid.
But President Trump issued an Executive Order that halted wind energy projects here, off the East Coast and the Gulf of America as well.
A Growing Concern
Offshore Wind Energy has been growing in capacity, especially off the U.S. East Coast, where the Atlantic Ocean water is shallow enough to imbed the wind turbines solidly in the sea floor.
But in the Pacific Ocean, the water gets very deep. Indeed, the call area that was finally chosen to move forward to lease auction, goes from some 800- to 1,300-meters (4,200 feet, over a quarter mile) deep.
BOEM has led this effort holding lease sales. Ironically, Trident Wind didn’t win one of the leases, despite being the folks that really got it all started.
Brand New Industry
Doing something like this, essentially launching a brand new industry, is inherently quite complex and made more so by the need for moorings in deep water, and the crossing of jurisdictional boundaries — going from federal to state controlled waters and eventually onto shore to connect with the power grid, a critical aspect of these projects that has yet to be studied very much if at all.
Further complicating the matter is the fact that there are no ports from San Francisco to Ventura that could accommodate the deep water and shore access space needed for a manufacturing/fabrication/assembly yard, and the massive boats that will be needed to build the projects. One study by a private group, estimated the main assembly yard could be as big as 50 acres or about half the size of the Morro Bay Power Plant property.
Given these needs for space and deep water, the main wind port could be built as far away as Port Hueneme or even Long Beach, which is eagerly hoping to establish it there and bring in the hundreds of jobs it promises to create. (Former President Joe Biden called them good, high-paying union jobs.)
Local Angle
Locally, Morro Bay, Diablo Canyon and Port San Luis have been getting serious consideration as potential ports to handle the smaller vessels that will be part of the OSW maintenance routine — crew boats for the most part.
PSL is doing one study, and SLO County and Morro Bay are teaming up to fund another one, which are intended to show what would be needed to update both ports’ facilities to accommodate some of the OSW companies’ needs.
One earlier study by the State Lands Commission, estimated Morro Bay would need tens of millions of dollars in upgrades. Congressman Salud Carbajal was able to secure some $1.5 million for Morro Bay for repairs to the WWII-era North T-pier, which is in bad need of repairs to reattach the pier deck to some of the piles, in anticipation of it being used by the OSW companies.
Depending on what improvements need to happen for Morro Bay to be anything more than a landing spot for the energy to connect to the power grid, could itself be controversial, simply through Morro Bay not readily embracing change, as well as a growing opposition led by the REACT Alliance and commercial fishermen to the very idea of “industrializing” the ocean. Fishermen have even sued to stop the projects.
Work so Far
With all that is seemingly stacking up against the projects, some progress was made over the past couple of years. Atlas Wind, managed to secure permits from BOEM to conduct underwater sound surveys of its lease area, and also to obtain permits to conduct similar studies of the seafloor along the high-voltage transmission wire route through State waters and onto shore. But those actual studies haven’t moved forward.
Golden State Wind also has done considerable surveying of its lease area but hasn’t yet moved into the State waters and the Coastal Commission. Even Keel Wind lags behind the other two.
What’s BOEM Doing?
For its part, BOEM has also gotten stuck in neutral by an Executive Order.
The agency had recently released a new study: “Draft Environmental Review of Potential Mitigation of Future Development of Wind Lease Areas Offshore California,” and been planning to hold public meetings to take comments on the draft report.
“On Nov. 13, 2024,” reads the notice, BOEM, “announced the notice of availability (NOA) of a draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that assesses the potential mitigation of future development associated with the five offshore wind lease areas off California’s central and north coasts.” Those five areas include the three here plus two other sites in Humboldt County in Northern California. “The NOA initiated a 90-day public comment period that ends at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Feb. 12, 2025.”
With ink newly dried on that announcement, BOEM hit the brakes after President Trump issued a Presidential Directive entitled: “Temporary withdrawal of all areas on the outer continental shelf form offshore wind leasing and review of the federal Government’s leasing and permitting practices for wind projects” (signed Jan. 20, 2025).
In summary, the order stops all new leasing efforts offshore from the Continental U.S. and halts work on the projects, subject to an audit of the “new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices.”
Trump’s order continued, “The assessment shall consider the environmental impact of onshore and offshore wind projects upon wildlife, including, but not limited to, birds and marine mammals. The assessment shall also consider the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry.”
The Secretary of the Interior is to lead this analysis in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury, Agriculture, Energy, and Commerce, all via the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the EPA Administrator.
As part of the work by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is seeking out waste, fraud and abuse in the government, last week the EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced discovery of over $300 billion that the Biden Administration had earmarked for its climate change-focused energy policy, including offshore wind. Under the President’s order that money is not expected to be awarded, if it survives the inevitable court challenge.
So, with the new administration yanking the parking brake on this moving project, it would seem OSW off the Central Coast is flying through turbulent air but hasn’t been becalmed entirely.
