Offshore wind energy may represent the most significant new commercial use of the ocean seen in many decades. As new offshore wind technology emerges off the U.S. West Coast, NOAA Fisheries has developed a strategic science plan identifying both opportunities and challenges for advancing the agency’s research and understanding of offshore wind in the region.
The West Coast Offshore Wind Energy Strategic Science Plan https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/west-coast-offshore-wind-energy-strategic-science-plan outlines research needs for NOAA Fisheries to gauge the effects of wind turbines that could one day float off the West Coast, where current leases exist and future lease sales are planned. Ocean depths off the West Coast require developers to pioneer wind technology using floating platforms that have not yet been employed on a large commercial scale. The industry envisions new port facilities in Long Beach and Humboldt Bay to construct the large turbines, and new transmission lines to feed the new power into the region’s electric grid.
“Offshore wind is an important tool and technology to help reduce greenhouse emissions,” said Jennifer Quan, Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “And we need to be prepared with sound science to help inform decisions affecting the marine species and the commercial and recreational fisheries that we manage as well as other important uses of the marine ecosystem.”
NOAA Fisheries works in support of the Biden Administration’s goal of responsibly deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 while protecting biodiversity and other uses of the ocean, and specifically deploying 15 gigawatts of floating offshore by 2035. Standing up this new energy sector represents investments of hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure and jobs. All offshore wind energy development in the United States so far has occurred off the East Coast.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) awarded 5 lease sales off California in 2022 and had a lease sale planned for areas off Oregon in October 2024. But BOEM announced that it is delaying the offshore wind energy auction planned for potential lease areas offshore Oregon due to insufficient bidder interest at this time.
While BOEM leads federal leasing and development of offshore wind, NOAA Fisheries manages the nation’s sustainable fisheries, provides conservation measures for species such as marine mammals and sea turtles, and studies, and monitors the marine ecosystem. Powerful wind-driven upwelling of deep, nutrient-rich waters along the West Coast makes the California Current Ecosystem one of the most productive in the world.
While the agency has already begun some offshore wind research activities on the West Coast, the new Science Plan outlines six research areas for NOAA Fisheries to pursue to better understand how offshore wind development on the West Coast will affect living marine resources. It also highlights how we fulfill our stewardship mandates for fisheries and protected species through investigating important questions:
- Habitat Impacts: How will wind energy development affect species’ habitats and the oceanographic features they depend on, such as upwelling?
- Physiological and Physical Effects: What new physical phenomena, such as electromagnetic fields and noise, will wind farm infrastructure and related marine traffic create that could impact marine life?
- Species Abundance and Distribution: How will floating wind farms, including their mooring and transmission lines, affect marine life populations and their movements?
- Socioeconomic Impacts to Fisheries and Fishing Communities: How will wind development affect cultural resources and economic drivers of West Coast fishing communities?
- Ecosystem and Climate Interactions: How will the effects of wind energy development cascade through the marine ecosystem, including any potential cumulative effects of multiple wind farms, and how will these effects manifest in a changing climate?
- Impacts to NOAA Fisheries’ Scientific Surveys: How can NOAA Fisheries ensure continued integrity of data collections the agency relies on to determine the numbers of fish available to fisheries, assess marine mammal populations, and monitor ocean conditions and climate change?
The agency says it will need additional resources to fill research gaps, building on long-term data and programs in studying and managing marine species and their habitats to make the most of our existing capacity. For example, NOAA Fisheries has decades of ocean survey and monitoring data collected, including with collaborators such as the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations, called CalCOFI. The priorities in the Plan are also informed by NOAA Fisheries’ East Coast experience, where offshore wind development has been underway for several years and already has multiple projects undergoing environmental review and some in construction and operation. To address the impacts to our Northeast surveys, we collaborated with BOEM on a survey mitigation strategy, and this is a model for the West Coast.
The plan will guide scientific activities, investments, and directions with partners related to this new energy sector. The Science Plan combines the work of the Northwest and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers, and West Coast Regional Office that uses the Centers’ research to inform management and protection of marine species.
“We want to study this new ocean use at the ecosystem scale because so many elements of offshore wind energy will interact with so many parts of the California Current Ecosystem,” said Kristen Koch, Director of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. “The more information we have earlier in the process, the better prepared we are to make choices that maximize both the benefits from wind energy and protections for the ecosystem.”
Innovation and technology will be cornerstones of NOAA Fisheries’ continuing work in this space. For instance, the Southwest Fisheries Science Center’s Ecosystem Science Division will extend its use of autonomous undersea gliders, originally deployed to study commercial fishing impacts in Antarctica, to the California Current Ecosystem off the West Coast. The Division’s scientists have begun testing the remotely operated gliders off California, where they can help monitor ocean conditions at lower cost than large research ships. These gliders may also more safely pass through the future wind farms where ships cannot.
“We have learned a lot about how to make the most of the gliders from our Antarctic experience,” said George Watters, Director of the Center’s new Ecosystem Sciences Division. “Now we have a chance to apply that track record to gather good baseline information in advance of wind construction and operations and understand how it may impact the California Current Ecosystem.”
The agency will also look for opportunities to work with offshore wind developers and other partners to integrate monitoring systems into offshore wind energy infrastructure as it is developed, adding to the long-term record of ocean data.
Success of the Science Plan will depend on both robust partnerships and identifying multiple funding streams. The Science Plan is intended to also help foster collaboration on research priorities and opportunities with our partners. The agency says it is committed to working with West Coast tribes, many of which depend on fisheries that could be affected by wind energy development, on the science to fulfill our trust responsibilities and considering indigenous knowledge in our decisions.
“This is a chance to build on our existing partnerships and create new relationships to bring in information from different sources,” said Kevin Werner, Director of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center. “We all want to understand the implications of wind energy development, and by working together we can make the most of our collective expertise and experience to provide a clearer view of how wind development may affect the ecosystem.”