The Oceantic Network for Offshore Wind (formerly the Business Network for Offshore Wind) celebrated its ten year anniversary in 2023. Ten years ago, we started as a group of Maryland businesses with a shared vision to break into the emerging offshore wind industry, creating jobs and economic opportunity throughout the state. We knew this would require building a domestic supply chain, strengthening cooperation and partnerships across geographies, and improving education and workforce training. What began as a small organization with a focus on building connections among businesses, developers, and policymakers in Maryland, has become the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to offshore wind development. For the last decade, we have grown and adapted alongside the industry, remaining true to our mission of unlocking new opportunities and fostering collaboration to benefit the global market.
From launching the International Partnering Forum—the largest offshore wind conference in the Americas—to creating critical industry products like the Supply Chain Connect registry, OSW Market Dashboard, and Foundation 2 Blade trainings, the Network is committed to meeting the dynamic needs of a fast-evolving industry. View a timeline of the many accomplishments the Network and the industry have achieved together below:
Evolution of the American Offshore Wind Industry
Since the Network’s founding in 2013, we have worked to take offshore wind energy from a nascent power source in the U.S. to a major driver of economic activity and utility-scale renewable energy. This surge has occurred thanks to progress in four key areas:
- From Demonstration to Commercialization: The number of offshore wind projects in the U.S. has skyrocketed since America’s first offshore wind farm—Block Island Wind Farm—came online in 2016. Today, output stands at 42 megawatts (MW), and the nation’s first two commercial projects—Vineyard Wind and South Fork—will soon bring nearly one gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind generation to the grid. A visible pipeline of projects supporting 10 GW is forming, all in support of an ambitious federal goal of deploying 30 GW (or 30,000 MW) by 2030 and 15 GW of floating offshore wind by 2035.
- $17 Billion in New Industry Investments: Confidence in the U.S. offshore wind market is growing. Together with tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021), increased state power demand and federal regulatory changes have helped generate more than $17 billion in new U.S. offshore wind investments since 2014. These investments are already creating thousands of well-paying jobs rebuilding U.S. ports, constructing new ships, and laying the groundwork for a new U.S. offshore wind manufacturing base in local communities.
- Federal-State Policy Alignment: States continue to drive the market forward with a combined demand for 77.4 GW (77,400 MW), and the federal government has matched these efforts by bringing greater reliability and transparency to critical leasing and permitting actions. These efforts are accelerating market advancement and sparking supply chain development.
- Innovation and Cutting-Edge Technology: The offshore wind industry is a hotbed for innovation and technology. This drive for improvement will ultimately lower costs, support businesses, help achieve decarbonization goals, and create new market opportunities for the United States to leapfrog to a global leadership position. We are seeing record investments in technologies that harness offshore wind’s power output for alternative uses, including green hydrogen production and carbon sequestration, and new innovations will be born in the Gulf of Mexico that leverage America’s powerful energy sector. Recent federal and state actions aimed at accelerating the development of floating turbine technology could give the U.S. market an important opportunity to become a major player.
Future of Offshore Wind: The Next Decade
As the industry moves from demonstration to commercialization, delivering clean, reliable, and affordable power to American homes and businesses, we see even more opportunity on the horizon. Technologies, innovations, and breakthroughs await, and we will continue to be there to help the industry flourish.
The Network and Offshore Wind: A Co-evolving History
Over the past ten years, the U.S. offshore wind industry and the Network have grown together. The growth and strides made by the Network reflect the growing and changing nature of offshore wind. View highlights of key Network and industry milestones below.
