Source: California Energy Commission; American Clean Power Association. Note: Excludes decommissioned capacity.
Analysis by CEC Economics
Highlight
- California added 95 MW of wind capacity in 2023, and cumulative installed wind capacity totaled 6,213 megawatts (MW) in California, a 1.6% increase from 2021 (6,118 MW).87 On the other hand, the rest of the U.S. added 7,089 MW of wind capacity in 2023, reaching a total U.S. cumulative excluding California capacity of 147,586 MW. Total wind capacity has remained largely stagnant in California since 2012, but it continues to expand in the rest of U.S. Outside of California, the nascent offshore wind industry is growing. South Fork Wind Farm, a 132 MW offshore wind project off Rhode Island, came online in March 2024.
87 Annual capacity additions and cumulative capacity may not always add up due to decommissioned, uprated and repowered wind turbines. Wind capacity data for each year is continuously updated as information changes.
Opportunity
- California had the first offshore wind lease sale in December 2022 for floating offshore wind (also the first successful lease sale on the West Coast),88 totaling 373,000 acres off the coast of Morro Bay and Humboldt County. The leases have the potential for 4,500 megawatts (MW) of new offshore wind capacity, enough generation to power 1.5 million homes.89 These leases are the first step towards the California Energy Commission’s goal of 2,000-5,000 MW installed wind capacity by 2030 and 25,000 MW by 2045.90 The offshore wind industry is facing a mix of challenges. Although the Federal Reserve has begun lowering interest rates, the levelized cost of energy for offshore wind is still several times higher than that of solar and land-based wind and there may be additional headwinds with the return of the Trump Administration.
88 There are two types of offshore wind technologies: Fixed bottom offshore wind and floating offshore wind. The existing offshore wind projects that are online (Block Island Wind Farm, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project, and South Fork Wind Farm) are all fixed bottom offshore wind projects. Floating offshore wind is less mature than fixed bottom offshore wind.
89 American Clean Power Association. California Floating Offshore Wind. December 11, 2022. Accessed August 15, 2023. Available at: https://cleanpower.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ACP_CA-Floating-Offshore-Wind_221206.pdf
90 California Energy Commission. California Continues to Advance Offshore Wind with New Report Detailing Options for Permitting Projects. May 10, 2023. Accessed August 15, 2023.Available at: https://www.energy.ca.gov/news/2023-05/california-continues-advance-offshore-wind-new-report-detailing-options
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