Port of Long Beach unveils plans to build massive offshore wind turbine facility
The Port of Long Beach on Tuesday unveiled its plans for a massive floating offshore facility to manufacture wind turbines in an effort to help California reach zero emission in the future.
The facility, which would be known as Pier Wind, would include 400 acres of newly built land just southwest of the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge, and would be able to support the construction of turbines standing more than 1,000 feet tall, or as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
Once finished, the turbines would then be free to ship up and down the coast of California in order to help the state reach its renewable energy targets, specifically in producing 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power, in coming decades.
"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," said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero. "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 open ocean and no air height restrictions. No other location has the space to achieve the economies of scale needed to drive down the cost of energy for these huge turbines."
The project, which officials currently estimate to cost around $4.7 billion, calls for construction on the facility to being as soon as Jan. 2027, with the first 100 acres of operational property open in 2031. The next 100 acres would be available later that same year with the final 200 acres coming by 2035.
At that point, it would be the largest facility at any seaport in the United States specifically designed to create offshore wind turbines. It would also help in lowering the cost of offshore wind power across the nation by 70% by 2035, according to their website.
On top of the increase in production, the facility would also create a bevy of new jobs for communities in the surrounding area.
"Building Pier Wind lays the foundation for a zero-carbo energy future, not only for the public but for our operations as well," said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Sharon Weissman. "Offshore wind is essential to the Port of Long Beach's own goals to transition to zero emissions, and ensuring there is a ready supply of reliable, resilient and renewable power is vital for the work we do moving commerce."
The Port of Long Beach is one of the nation's largest container seaports, estimated to handle trade valued at more than $200 billion on a year-to-year basis.
