The US Federal Government will provide over $8m to develop an offshore wind terminal in Humboldt Bay, California.
The planning project will fund studies, site design, and permitting activities for a heavy-lift facility at the Redwood Marine Terminal.
The $8.6m grant will also fund the creation of a bay-wide master plan for offshore wind development and project management and grant administration expenses.
“The Biden-Harris administration and Democrats have made serious commitments to ramp up renewable energy with the transformative investments we made in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Offshore wind is an important part of that equation,” said Representative Jared Huffman. “My district in Northern California has some of the best areas available to help meet the administration’s offshore wind energy goals, and I’m glad I could help secure this grant to support the development of one of the first offshore wind projects on the West Coast.”
In a new poll co-sponsored by the L.A. Times and conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies pollsters found that 56 percent of registered voters would be comfortable with wind turbines near their community, compared with 32 percent opposed. Solar farms earned an even stronger endorsement, with 69 percent of respondents supportive and 22 percent opposed. Importantly, voters also gave their blessing to offshore wind turbines visible from the beach by a 2-1 ratio.