Offshore wind could provide energy when California needs it most, Cal Poly study says
California typically hits peak demand for electricity and energy right as the sun starts to set.
So how can the state meet its goal of getting half its electrical power from renewable energy sources by 2030 when solar power production — which provides 22% of the state’s electricity — goes away with the sun?
Researchers from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) have an answer: Offshore wind turbines floating in the Pacific Ocean off the Central Coast.
A study published in October 2019 shows that when electrical power demand is highest in the evening hours, offshore wind power production off the Central Coast would be at its peak.
“Our results suggest that the offshore wind power in the Central Coast is very likely to help supply the daily peak electricity demand when there is little or no solar power during in the evening,” said Yi-Hui Wang of Cal Poly’s Center for Coastal Marine Services, who co-authored the story with physics professor Ryan Walter and biology professors Ben Ruttenberg and Crow White.
More energy means more money for energy companies. Offshore wind power has the potential to be more valuable than solar and land-based wind simply because it produces more energy during peak times, according to the study, which was funded by BOEM.
In the winter, offshore wind is two to four times more valuable than solar and land-based wind generation over most areas, according to the study.
During the summer, offshore wind still beats solar and land-based wind in terms of value, the study said.
The study was done by calculating average wind speeds throughout the year at the altitude above the ocean waters where the wind turbines would operate, Wang said.
The researchers used special buoys out in the ocean and a database developed by the National Renewable Energy Labs to find out how much wind would be pushing the turbines at what speeds, which they could then translate into power production, according to the study.
When will offshore wind farms come to California?
The Cal Poly study is one of many pieces in the puzzle for installing wind turbines off the Central Coast.
In 2016, Castle Wind and its venture partners Trident Winds and the German firm EnBW GMBH submitted a lease request to BOEM to build offshore wind turbines near Morro Bay. That sparked BOEM to open the bidding process for other companies to propose plans for offshore wind turbines in the area.
Since then, 10 other companies have applied for leases in both the Diablo Canyon and Morro Bay areas off the San Luis Obispo County coast.
The U.S. Department of Defense, which has previously opposed offshore wind turbines due to their supposed incompatibility with the U.S. Navy’s operations near Morro Bay, told The Tribune in an email Thursday that it is working with BOEM and other stakeholders “to explore the possibilities for offshore wind that avoids adverse impacts on military operations, testing, and training requirements.”
BOEM has not offered leases to any of the companies yet because it is still in the planning process to analyze any “real and potential impact that development (of the offshore wind farms) may have on the environment and the local community,” BOEM spokesperson John Romero said.
Therefore, Cal Poly’s study shows offshore wind energy is valuable and a “good option to help California meet their renewable energy goals,” said BOEM biological oceanographer Susan Zaleski, who oversaw the Cal Poly study.
“The benefit of offshore wind is that it actually blows stronger and more consistently than onshore wind,” Zaleski said. “Because it’s out in the ocean, and there’s no mountain ranges or land that would interfere with a wind flow, then you actually get a more steady and stronger wind.”
Next, BOEM and researchers from Cal Poly are working to determine other factors of installing wind turbines out in the Pacific Ocean such as impacts on marine and seabird life, Zaleski said.
Cal Poly is also working on a manuscript that may be released within the next year showinghow much power can be generated by the offshore wind turbines in comparison to former and existing infrastructure such as Diablo Canyon power plant and the now-closed Duke Energy plant in Morro Bay.
