The approval by the Biden Administration of the largest offshore windfarm in the United States at Martha Vineyard this week will likely be a game changer for Hawaii. Not only will it green-light the efforts of existing offshore project developers to go forward, if approved it will enable the state to meet its 100% renewable energy goal by 2045, and at the same time provide badly needed jobs and tax revenue.

A discussion on producing offshore wind in Hawaii has been ongoing in Hawaii for more than ten years. By 2015 the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) had reported that two companies had proposed three projects for Hawaii. Although the projects promised the  creation of 400 – 800  MW of energy, the effort was shelved during the Trump Administration – which had declared itself opposed to renewables.

The newly approved 3 billion dollar project off Massachusetts with its 62 turbines is estimated to produce enough energy to power 400,000 homes.  Eventually they hope to install 3000 turbines along the length of the Atlantic Coast from Maine to North Carolina with 13 projects reportedly under review.  The Biden Administration has committed to producing 30 gigawatts of electricity from offshore wind by 2030 powering ten million homes throughout the United States.  They hope that the new move to create an offshore wind industry will create 77,000 jobs. It is expected to provide a critical boost to manufacturers, union members and entrepreneurs throughout the United States, including Hawaii.

 The proposed Hawaii effort is smaller than the one proposed for Martha’s Vineyard. Both Alpha Wind Energy Hawaii and Progression Hawaii Offshore Wind submitted proposals in 2015 calling for the installation of floating wind turbines, moored to the sea floor to create three large windfarms. These projects, estimated to cost $1.5 billion - $2 billion are planned to be situated off Kaena Point and Waikiki, fully built would be made up of 42 – 50 wind turbines and would be located 12-15 miles from shore. They would collectively generate 800 MW   – enough to power 40% all the homes on Oahu. Not only is the technology proven in the US and the North Sea but it is easily transferable to Hawaii’s offshore waters where there are steady winds. The floating platforms would be moored to the ocean floor using technology developed from the offshore drilling industry. The floating platforms on which the wind turbines are mounted - known as Windfloat Technology has been developed in Portugal.  Two pilot projects have been successfully installed off the US East Coast so there is a confidence that the offshore technology is sound.

However, approvals will take time as environmental groups gear up to delay the projects for fear of the impacts large open ocean offshore wind farms might have on open ocean fish, birds and marine mammals. There are also likely to be objections from commercial fishermen and from the US military which need freedom of navigation in the area.