Tapping America’s offshore wind energy resources will greatly benefit our economy. A vibrant offshore wind industry in the U.S. will produce hundreds of thousands of new, high quality careers while revitalizing manufacturing opportunities and spurring economic development along the Atlantic Coast. At the same time, plugging hundreds of gigawatts of clean, local power into the electricity grid will allow us to lower and stabilize energy prices. PES looks at how switching from our addiction to oil will not only help the economy, but might impact matters as diverse as US national security…
Wind energy is a proven job-creation engine. Over 75,000 people are already employed in America’s onshore wind industry, including more than 30,000 manufacturing jobs. Europe has seen massive economic development benefits from its offshore wind industry and once America commits to a pipeline of offshore wind energy projects, there is tremendous opportunity to launch similar regional port development and new career paths here. And like the power itself, the benefits are local: because the components of offshore wind turbines are so large, it is most cost effective to manufacture and assemble them in close proximity to where they will be deployed. Recent government and industry analyses have found that $200 billion in new economic activity and more than 43,000 permanent, high-paying jobs in manufacturing, construction, engineering, operations, and maintenance could result from building offshore wind energy in America. Also, over 300,000 jobs and a GDP increase of $30 billion could result from developing 7.7 GW of offshore wind energy in the Mid-Atlantic region.
America’s East Coast is an ideal location for offshore wind energy because of the region’s high electricity demand and population density. This massive power source lies in close proximity to America’s largest demand centers, providing an opportunity to meet the region’s growing energy needs with clean power. A diverse energy portfolio including offshore wind can reduce the strain on existing sources of power and alleviate congestion during peak demand periods. And wind is there when we need it most: specifically, offshore winds blow strongest during the day and at other times of high demand – such as heat waves – providing a steady stream of much-needed clean power to the grid in areas already suffering from poor air quality. Innovative approaches to offshore transmission can enhance these benefits, by linking up multiple wind energy projects and providing opportunities to connect in to several energy markets.
