The Port of Long Beach on May 9 announced its concept proposal for Pier Wind, a floating offshore wind facility centered around supporting companies involved in future renewable energy efforts along the West Coast.
The vision for Pier Wind includes a $4.7 billion facility featuring as many as 400 acres southwest of the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge.
The port says that the project would contribute to the state’s efforts to create 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2045 and help lower the national expense of offshore wind power by 70% by 2035.
“Imagine fully assembled wind turbines capable of generating 20 megawatts of energy towed by sea from the Port of Long Beach to offshore wind farms in Central and Northern California,” Port Executive Director Mario Cordero remarked.
“As society transitions to clean energy, our harbor is ideally located for such an enterprise – with calm seas behind a federal breakwater, one of the deepest and widest channels in the U.S., direct access to the open ocean and no air height restrictions,” he added. “No other location has the space to achieve the economies of scale needed to drive down the cost of energy for these huge turbines.”
If funding and approvals are achieved, the project could start as early as January 2027, according to the port, with the first 100 acres in operations by early 2031, the second 100 acres operational in late 2031 and the last 200 acres in 2035.