Third Quarter Demonstrates Continued Momentum for U.S. Offshore Wind Market

­The U.S. offshore wind market grew its shovel-ready project pipeline, delivered four new vessels, and broke ground on new port facilities in the third quarter of 2024. These and other key industry findings are detailed in Oceantic Network’s U.S. Offshore Wind Quarterly Market Report, which highlights project construction milestones, regulatory advancements and state-level developments that drove the U.S. market forward between July and September of 2024.

Project construction continued with Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project (2,587 MW) installing more than 50 monopiles this quarter alone, bringing their total to more than 70 of 176 since achieving first steel in the water in late May. In New York, Sunrise Wind (924 MW) broke ground for its onshore construction; Connecticut and Rhode Island’s Revolution Wind (704 MW) became the third commercial scale project to install turbines with the project nearing the end of foundation installation, with 62 of 65 in the seabed. 

“In the run up to the federal election, the U.S. offshore wind market is on solid ground with a strong pipeline of projects ready for construction, three under major offshore installation, and billions flowing quarterly into the supply chain and supporting infrastructure,” said Sam Salustro, senior vice president of policy at Oceantic Network. “This momentum is translating into job growth, delivering economic benefits for communities across the nation. Thanks to offshore wind, Hampton Roads, Virginia will be home to a new $700 million cable manufacturing plant, and shipyards from Texas to Massachusetts are filled with orders.”

The U.S. market continued to make progress addressing its vessel needs with the launch of four new crew transfer vessels (CTVs) in Q3. These CTVs were constructed in shipyards in Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

The third quarter of 2024 signaled continued momentum for the offshore wind industry as substantial investment continues and in-progress projects approach completion. The report identified several further advancements:

• Including approvals for Atlantic Shores South and US Wind’s Maryland Offshore Wind Project, BOEM has now approved ten offshore wind projects totaling 15 GW.
   
• Massachusetts and Rhode Island awarded provisional offtake agreements for 2,878 MW of capacity across three projects.
   
• California and Delaware approved their first offshore wind procurement targets, setting the stage for future state-driven offtake rounds.
   
• Four new crew transfer vessels (CTVs) for the offshore wind industry were launched in Q3 of 2024, marking ten newbuild CTVs launched for the offshore wind industry in 2024.
   
• Between July and September, $2.1 billion was invested in the U.S. offshore wind market across transmission, port, and supply chain development, as well as research and vessels.