Offshore Wind Farm to Open on New York Coast, USA

$3 Billion Investment Over the Next 10 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The Biden administration in the United States plans to invest $3 billion (approximately 3.4 trillion KRW) over the next decade to build an offshore wind power complex off the coast of New York State on the U.S. East Coast.

At a regular briefing on the 29th (local time), the White House unveiled a blueprint for the development of the offshore wind energy project and announced that by the end of this year, it will establish an offshore wind power complex in the New York Bight area connecting Long Island, New York, and New Jersey. The administration intends to accelerate the project by setting specific deadlines for permits, including environmental impact assessments and approvals from relevant departments.

The Biden administration plans to expand offshore wind power capacity to 30 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 through this complex. It is expected to supply electricity to more than 10 million households in 10 years and reduce carbon emissions by 78 million tons annually.

Currently, the U.S. has small-scale offshore wind facilities along the eastern Atlantic coast, including Rhode Island and Virginia, but their generation capacity is about 30 megawatts, significantly lagging behind European countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Denmark in related infrastructure.

Gina McCarthy, White House National Climate Advisor, stated, "The construction of offshore wind facilities will create thousands of high-paying jobs." The White House expects that this investment will directly create 44,000 jobs in manufacturing blades and towers for offshore wind turbines, various component factories, and shipyards producing specialized vessels for installing offshore wind turbines, with an additional 33,000 jobs generated.

This announcement follows an executive order halting new permits for oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands, including public lands. The Biden administration aims to achieve zero carbon emissions in the power sector by 2035 to combat global warming. Foreign media have noted that this marks the resumption of offshore wind power projects that were halted during former President Donald Trump's administration and have assessed that it could provoke opposition from related groups and the Republican Party due to concerns over fishing rights infringement and environmental damage.