August 25, 2021 โ Building on moves by Louisiana, offshore wind advocates see the Gulf of Mexico as a next major step for developing the U.S. industry โ possibly including re-use of offshore oil and gas platforms and pipelines as assets for an allied โgreen hydrogenโ industry.
โWe know offshore wind takes a long time to get off the groundโฆweโve got to move fast,โ said Liz Burdock, president and CEO of the industry group Business Network for Offshore Wind, on the opening days of its International Partnering Forum conference in Richmond, Va.
BNOWโs Gulf of Mexico working group conferred by video Tuesday with officials in Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwardsโ administration and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which has been working since June on Bel Edwardsโ request to seek commercial interest in developing wind power off his state.
The agency is taking its early look at a swath of the gulf outer continental shelf out to 4,000-foot depth for potential siting of fixed-foundation and floating wind turbines.
โWe are at the very beginning of that process,โ said Tershara Matthews of BOEM. The agency is reviewing comments from stakeholders โ along with some proprietary information offered by potential wind developers โ to assess its next steps.
โThere was interest in both fixed and floating,โ added Mike Celata of BOEM, with more tending toward fixed development on the shallower shelf. Most of that is focused west of Lafayette, La., with โoverlapping interestโ by different developers, he said.