Californian Port Gets $427M Boost for New Offshore Wind Infrastructure

The U.S. government has awarded a major grant to the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District for the construction of a new marine terminal to be primarily used for floating offshore wind-related activities.

The grant for the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind MVP (Minimum Viable Port) project comes through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects (INFRA) grant program, which received a substantial funding increase through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Humboldt Bay project will involve the construction of a modern marine terminal primarily for the transport, import, staging, preassembly, final assembly, launch, in-water construction, and long-term maintenance of floating offshore wind turbine devices in the area.

The project also includes environmental protection measures such as an eco-shoreline.

In 2022, Crowley signed an agreement with the Port of Humboldt Bay to exclusively negotiate to be the developer and operator of a terminal to serve as California’s first hub for offshore wind energy installations.  

Later that year, the plans for two floating offshore wind farms in north California Humboldt sites received the green light following the first floating wind auction to be held in California.

The successful bidders for the two north California Humboldt sites, RWE and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CP), bid the highest prices per square kilometer of lease area.

Both companies have also identified the potential of at 1.6 GW and at least 1 GW, respectively for the sites.

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“Offshore wind energy is essential to combating the increasingly devastating effects of climate change as California strives to reach 100% carbon-free power. This substantial investment in the Harbor District will not only boost economic development in the Humboldt community, but also move us closer toward our clean energy and grid reliability goals,” said U.S. Senator Alex Padilla.

“Supporting offshore wind development is proof of our commitment to clean, renewable energy and to sustainable jobs and economic development for our community,” added Stephen Kullmann, Vice President of the Board of Commissioners for the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District.