California has long been a pulsing light on the radar screen for the offshore wind sector, with excellent wind resources particularly off its northern coasts offering some 200GW of technical opportunity, a good match on paper for a state with a long track-record of technological innovation and progressive policy-making that has embarked on an energy transition towards 100% clean power by 2045.
The narrow outer continental shelf running along the Pacific seaboard drops down swiftly to 1,000 metres or more, however, meaning for offshore wind farm only the higher-priced floating platforms will be viable.
