Offshore Wind Energy - Humboldt Waterkeeper

BRIEF OVERVIEW: In 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) awarded two lease areas 20-30 miles west of Humboldt Bay to offshore wind developers. BOEM’s environmental review process for offshore wind development is separated into two analyses. First is environmental impact assessment of the impacts of the studies that need to be done, such as the use of buoys, radar, and sonar. Next, after studies of the lease areas are complete, Environmental Impact Statements will analyze impacts from construction and operation of the wind turbines. These processes will be done separately for the two lease areas.

Also in 2022, the California Coastal Commission reviewed plans for studying marine life in the proposed Humboldt Wind Energy Area, 21 miles west of Humboldt Bay. We submitted these comments and these comments. The plans for studies were approved with seven conditions, including a vessel speed limit of 10 knots (11.5 mph) to decrease the likelihood of collisions with whales and other marine mammals.

In 2023, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District issued a Notice of Preparation for the proposed Heavy Lift Terminal in Samoa. We submitted these comments on the potential impacts that must be addressed in the Draft EIR, which is being developed. For more info, check out the website we developed with colleagues at EPIC and CORE Hub: FAQs on Offshore Wind Energy.

LATEST NEWS on Offshore Wind Energy:

Crowley’s plans for offshore wind complex at California’s Humboldt Bay

On October 27th Crowley Wind Services signed an agreement with the Port of Humboldt Bay to exclusively negotiate to be the developer and operator of a terminal to serve as California's first hub for offshore wind energy installations.

If an agreement is reached, Crowley will be the exclusive developer/operator of the wind terminal at Humboldt Bay.

In an interview with the American Journal of Transportation, Jeff Andreini, Crowley Wind Services's Vice President, described the future terminal, saying “heavy lift ships will be used for the construction of the terminals. There will be heavy lift cranes that will … be doing the actual construction of the turbine. So, the terminal will do the construction of the floaters. The floaters will actually be built in Humboldt Bay and not in a foreign country.

There might be materials that might come from Asia, but the pre-construction will potentially (take place) in either San Francisco or Los Angeles and would be shipped to Humboldt Bay where the actual buildout will take place.”

Lease to Farm: The long road ahead for offshore wind

To much fanfare, two foreign multinational corporations combined to spend more than $331 million on winning bids for the chance to develop more than 207 square miles of ocean off Humboldt Bay into two floating offshore wind farms.

But the auctions also represent just a very early step in what promises to be a long process fraught with possible pitfalls and hurdles, potential risks and rewards, for Humboldt Bay and beyond. Here's a quick look at the road ahead.

Winning bids for North Coast offshore wind leases top $331 million

The first offshore wind lease auction off the California coast has come to a close and the winners of the leases have been announced.
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced the two leases in the Humboldt wind energy area, 21 miles off the coast of Humboldt Bay, were awarded to RWE Offshore Wind Holdings — 63,338 acres for $157.7 million — and California North Floating — 69,031 for $173.8 million — just before noon on Wednesday.

The five leases, including three roughly 80,000-acre apiece leases off Morro Bay, garnered $757.1 million for 373,268 acres capable of generating 4.6 gigawatts of energy, or enough power for 1.5 million homes. The winning bids off the coast of Morro Bay were from Equinor Wind US ($130 million), Central California Offshore Wind ($150.3 million), and Invenergy California Offshore ($145.3 million).

The lease sale is a significant milestone in meeting the state and nation’s goals to address the climate crisis. Wind energy is expected to complement solar energy, which is plentiful during the day while wind speeds are stronger when the sun goes down.

Humboldt County doesn’t have the transmission infrastructure in place to develop a large offshore wind farm right away, so developers are expected to start with a smaller community-scale project.

BOEM Names California North Floating and RWE Offshore Wind Holdings as Provisional Winners of Two Offshore Wind Leases Off the Humboldt Coast

California North Floating, LLC, a subsidiary of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and RWE Offshore Wind Holdings, LLC, a German multinational energy company, placed the winning bids for two lease areas in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA), which spans more than 132,000 acres approximately 20 miles west of Eureka.

When the auction ended just before noon today, the swath of watery real estate went for more than $331.5 million, with California North Floating, LLC bidding $173.8 million for 69,031 acres and RWE Offshore Wind Holdings, LLC bidding 63,338 acres for $157.7 million.

Now that the provisional winners have been announced, BOEM will return the non-winners’ bid deposits and the Department of Justice will initiate an antitrust review of the auction. All winners are considered provisional until they sign the lease, provide financial assurance and pay any outstanding balance of their bid.

North Coast Fisherman Fear for the Future of Commercial Fisheries as Offshore Wind Efforts Advance

As plans to bring offshore wind to the North Coast move steadily ahead, commercial fishermen are urging federal and state regulatory agencies to pump the brakes.

“I want to make one thing clear: Fishermen are not opposing [renewable] projects up here, we’re opposing the loss of thousands of miles of fishing grounds,” Ken Bates, president of the California Fishermen’s Resiliency Association (CFRA), told the Outpost in a recent interview. “Fishermen understand what’s going on with the climate. They can see what’s going on with the ocean. They get it. … That being said, we need to exercise a little bit of caution before we just throw these projects to the wind, so to speak.”

“Interestingly enough, the areas that are the windiest on the California, Oregon and Washington coasts are also the areas that are most biologically productive,” Bates said.

Bates has relayed his concerns to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the federal agency that oversees the development of offshore renewable energy projects, but he feels commercial fishermen aren’t being heard.

“The lease area was picked by [BOEM] without input from anybody in the fishing fleet,” he said, adding that there are only a handful of fully operational floating wind turbines in the world. “Part of what fishermen are asking for is to slow down. Let’s be careful and make sure we’re not doing more damage than we’re hoping to alleviate by implementing this technology in the ocean. …We’re scrambling to try to find a way to have some input in this process.”