b'JUNE 21 - JULY 25, 2021NORTH AMERICAN OFFSHORE WIND POWER 29(SPEEDcontinued frommiles long and cost upwardsBay area. The subsea distanceInterior Dept. to explore page 28) of $3.1 billion, according to abetweenSFBayandHum-GavinNewsomcommitted2020 Humboldt State Univer- boldt Bay (250 miles) neces-$20millioninCaliforniassity report. sitates the use of an HVDCoffshore wind potential proposed FY 2021-22 budgetThe concept is similar toelectrical system to minimize asadownpaymenttospurtheAtlanticWindConnec- electrical losses. The HVDCin the Gulf of Mexicooffshore wind power.tion, an offshore transmissioncablesystemwouldconsist Ofthisallocation,$11systemproposedforlinkingof the cable system itself andTheDepartmentofthejobs across the nation. This is millionisearmarkedasaoffshorewindfarmsonthean HVDC converter station atInterior has announced its intentan important first step to see matchfor$55millionU.S.U.S. Atlantic coast, that waseach end of the transmissiontoassesspotentialopportuni- what role the Gulf may play Department of Transportationnever built. cable(HumboldtAreaandtiestoadvancecleanenergyin this exciting frontier.funds that will fund the off- ThereportwasproducedSF Bay Area) to convert thedevelopment ontheGulfofThe Bureau of Ocean Energy shorewindfacilityatHum- by the Schatz Energy Researchpowerto/fromthestandardMexicoOuterContinentalManagement(BOEM)will boldt Bay. The total grant isCenter at Humboldt State Uni- alternating current (AC) gridShelf (OCS). This significantpublish a Request for Interest $66 million.versity, Arcata, California andsystem. milestone is part of the Biden- (RFI) in the Federal Register LarryOetker,executiveisentitledCaliforniaNorthIntotal,11companiesHarrisadministrationsgoalto assess interest in potential director, Humboldt Bay HarborCoast Offshore Wind Studies:have applied for leases in bothtocreatethousandsofjobsoffshorewinddevelopment District, told AJOT: This is aSubseaTransmissionCableDiabloCanyonandMorrothrough the deployment of 30in the OCS. The RFI will be game-changerforHumboldtConceptual Assessment. Bay off of the Central Cali- gigawatts(GW)ofoffshorefocusedonthe Westernand Bay. After we lost a lot of ourThe report said that rout- fornia coast, while 10 appliedwind by 2030. Central Planning Areas of the timberbusinessinthe1990s,ing a high voltage direct cur- forspacesoffofHumboldtThe Interior DepartmentGulf of Mexico offshore the we also lost a lot of our mari- rent(HVDC)transmissionBayinNorthernCalifornia,iscommittedtodevelop- statesofLouisiana,Texas, time business. This will changecablefromtheHumboldtaccordingtotheBureauofing a robust and sustainableMississippi,andAlabama. with the offshore wind port Bay area to the San FranciscoOcean Energy Management. clean energy economy, saidAlthoughtheprimaryfocus WeareverygratefultotheBay (SF Bay) area would beThe floating offshore windSecretary Deb Haaland. Weof the RFI is on wind energy BidenAdministrationandtointendedtodeliverpowerturbines planned for Califor- knowthatoffshorewinddevelopment, BOEM is also Governor Newsom. generatedfromanoffshorenia would be fastened to thedevelopmenthasthepoten- seeking information on other Oetker said that the envi- wind farm(s) in the Humboldtoceanfloorwithcablesandtialtocreatetensofthou- (EXPLOREcontinued on ronmentalreviewsforper- area to load centers in the SFfloat on the surface of the sea.sands of good-paying, unionpage 30)mittingthewindfarmsoff Humboldt Bay will take 3-4 years and so a similar time-line is expected for the con-struction of the new port.As part of the initial phase oftheproject,theexisting 6-acreRedwoodMarineTer-minalwouldbecompletely replacedwithanewmodern heavy-liftterminal,andeel grass and other impacts would be mitigated, Oetker said.This will be supported by an additional 40-acre tarmac uplands from the terminal.To complement the eco-nomicinvestmentinthe newPort,thenearbyHum-boldtStateUniversitywill bereceiving$433million toprovidenewresourcesto createapolytechnicuniver-sitythatsupportsadvanced training and research, he said. A jobs and skills assess-ment is currently under way andduetobepublishedin July. This will identify work-forcerequirementsthatwill benecessarytosupportthe new port facility.There will also be a focus on training welders and fitters and other skilled workers at the local community college, College of the Redwoods at Eureka.The offshore wind facil-itywillassemblewindtur-bineswhichwillthenbe floated out to sea to become wind farms. n orthernCa w Indf arM& t ransMIssIonl IneStern noted that 1.6 GW of offshore wind farm devel-opmentprojectedforHum-boldt Bay, is restricted by the lackoftransmissioninfra-structure to deliver electricity.However, wind farms off Humboldt Bay could expand ifanoffshoretransmission line to the San Francisco Bay Area is built.It is estimated thatanunderwatertrans-missionlinesystemlinking HumboldtBaytotheS.F. Bay Area would be over 250'