Offshore Renewable Energy Feasibility Study Across Technology Types for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

A range of renewable energy technologies are available and evolving with continued opportunities for offshore renewable energy activities in US Federal waters. This study included a survey and an analysis of the survey findings; each resulted in a report. Renewable energy types explored in the survey included offshore wind, wave, tidal, ocean currents, ocean-based solar, ocean thermal gradients, and deep water source cooling. Each renewable energy sources' resource capacity was quantified for both the gross and technical resource capacity potential. The technical resource of offshore wind for the Gulf is estimated at 638 GW, the largest of any of the technologies examined. Based on the survey findings, NREL determined that offshore wind has the highest potential to deliver utility scale electricity from ocean-based renewable energy in the Gulf of Mexico. This conclusion is based the quantification and relative scoring based on three factors: resource adequacy, technology readiness, and cost competitiveness. Its deployment and ability to serve a significant percentage of the load in the Gulf is depends on improving the economics over the next decade. When considering all US states and only sites with average wind speeds of greater than 15.7 mph and water depths less than 3,280 ft, three of the top four states with the highest offshore wind resource capacity are in the Gulf (Louisiana, Texas, and Florida). An analysis of jobs, earnings, regional gross domestic product (GDP), and regional economic output to support the construction and operation of a 600-MW offshore wind project in the GOM was done. The regional analysis assessed the construction and operation to support jobs and economic growth in the Gulf region. Results indicate that a single 600-MW offshore wind project could support approximately 4,470 jobs and $445 million in GDP during construction and an ongoing 150 jobs and $14 million annually from O&M labor, materials, and services. Results are based on a project with a commercial operations date of 2030.

USD: $344,188

2017-10-01 → 2019-09-30