Consortium selected to develop offshore wind energy off California

The Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) has selected a consortium to help develop an offshore wind energy project off the northern Californian coast.

The chosen consortium, which comprises Principle Power, EDPR Offshore North America, Aker Solutions, HT Harvey and Associates and Herrera Environmental Consultants, was one of the six respondents to the request for qualifications (RFQ) issued by the RCEA on February 1.

RCEA said the wind resource off the Humboldt County included average wind speeds of more than 10 metres per second.

The proposed public-private partnership project is a 100 to 150MW floating offshore wind farm planned to be located more than 32 kilometres off the coast of Eureka.

RCEA and the consortium will be finalising a partnership agreement in coming weeks, working toward the goal of submitting a lease application this northern spring.