The agreement is the first step in what could be a six-plus
year development process resulting in a facility that would anchor
the multi-billion-dollar offshore wind industry and several hundred
high-quality, long-term jobs in the Central Coast region.
SAN LUIS
OBISPO, Calif., July 24,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday evening, the Port San
Luis Harbor District's Board approved entering into a Project
Evaluation Agreement (Agreement) with Clean Energy Terminals (CET),
a leading developer of offshore wind port facilities across the
U.S.
The Agreement enables the parties to jointly evaluate the
technical and commercial feasibility of an offshore wind operations
and maintenance (O&M) port facility in San Luis Obispo Bay. The
facility could be utilized by multiple wind projects located in
federal waters off California's
Central Coast. If an O&M facility is found to be feasible, the
Agreement also sets out a pathway for parties to negotiate a lease
option and subsequent long-term lease for the project's development
and operations. Project evaluation is expected to take between six
and 18 months, with development of an O&M facility taking
six-to-eight years in total, subject to permitting and the timing
of California's offshore wind
projects. Any future lease option or long-term lease agreement will
require a separate Harbor District Board approval.
Offshore wind is a multi-billion-dollar maritime energy industry
that has experienced significant growth internationally and on the
U.S. East Coast. It is now emerging off the Golden State's coast as
part of California's effort to
transition to zero-emission electricity generation by 2045.
Recent port studies and public feedback have suggested that
larger offshore wind-related port facilities, such as the staging
and integration ports under development in Humboldt Bay and
Long Beach, are not well-suited to
the Central Coast. Instead, smaller facilities such as O&M
ports, which are typically no more than 5 acres in size and support
vessels that come into port approximately once every other week,
could be a good fit for the region. An O&M port would enable
Central Coast communities to tap into the new job creation and
local economic benefits that are stemming from the offshore wind
industry without significant coastal industrialization.
"The Harbor District's mission is to support commercial,
recreational, and coastal-related activities, and to this end,
offshore wind represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for San
Luis Obispo Bay that we simply cannot overlook," said
Suzy Watkins, Harbor Director of
the Port San Luis Harbor District.
Port San Luis has a long history as a commercial and energy
port, including goods and passenger movement through Harford Pier, petroleum product export through
the facility now known as Cal Poly Pier, and more recently
offloading components for Diablo Canyon power plant.
"The commercial and energy-related activities of the last
century led to infrastructure investments that harbor users still
enjoy today, including Harford Pier
and the federal breakwater. Offshore wind represents this century's
opportunity to invest in local maritime projects that will ensure
the Harbor's role as a critical economic engine in SLO County for
generations to come," Watkins continued.
"Today's announcement is Day 1 of a thoughtful and thorough
evaluation of the feasibility of an O&M port in San Luis Obispo
Bay, and if feasible, what a facility could look and feel like.
This process will include meaningful engagement with local
communities, including residents of Avila
Beach, local Tribal governments which have a deep historic
association with the Bay, local advisory groups such as the Avila
Valley Advisory Council, the commercial fishing community here in
Port San Luis and in the region more broadly, and other local ocean
users like the Surfrider Foundation," said Port San Luis Harbor
Commission President, Bob
Vessely.
"We welcome the partnership with Clean Energy Terminals and are
excited by the potential for Port San Luis to participate in this
new economic opportunity for our County," Vessely continued.
"Entirely new maritime industries don't come around often, and when
they do it's incumbent on us, as custodians of the Harbor, to look
at them seriously and, if viable, to enable our community to access
those opportunities."
CET is a U.S. port developer that specializes in offshore wind
projects with the capital and expertise to deliver an O&M port
project from concept through operations. CET is developing a
portfolio of wind ports across the U.S, working in partnership with
public port authorities, harbor districts, and local
municipalities.
"We believe that, at its core, infrastructure development is
economic development. Ports are the pivot-point where investments
in offshore wind generation are transformed into family sustaining
clean energy careers, new supply chain investments for Californian
communities, and growth opportunities for small and diverse Central
Coast businesses," said Brian
Sabina, Chief Executive of CET.
"CET is committed to developing projects the right way," said
Sabina. "To us that means projects that reflect the values of host
communities and are environmentally responsible. It also means
delivering projects in a way that puts safety first and ensures
long-term sustainability. In partnership with the Port San Luis
Harbor District, we are evaluating whether an O&M facility is
technically feasible and, if so, how it can be most responsibly
delivered."
According to an Oceantic Network report released in 2023, the
U.S. needs to invest at least $36
billion in new and upgraded offshore wind port
infrastructure over the next ten years across approximately 100
port facilities. The Californian Energy Commission estimates that
$11-12 billion is required to upgrade
port infrastructure across California to meet the State's 25 GW by 2045
offshore wind goal. Port San Luis has been identified by multiple
independent studies as a high-potential location for O&M
facilities.
Senator John Laird, State
Senator for Senate District 17 said, "I am pleased that the
Port San Luis Harbor District and Clean Energy Terminals are
having these preliminary discussions about potential O&M
port facilities on the Central Coast -- it's important to
understand the options and ground truth the facts.
Offshore wind brings tremendous economic potential to the
State of California, in addition
to helping us reach our ambitious climate goals. Some of
those benefits should serve the Central Coast, in the form of
local jobs and tax revenues, consistent with the careful siting of
any project to ensure the protection of ecological
resources."
San Luis Obispo County
District 3 Supervisor, Dawn
Ortiz-Legg said, "The Harbor District's initiative in
evaluating the potential for an O&M facility in San Luis Obispo
Bay is welcomed. Additionally, the transparent, collaborative and
stakeholder-driven approach that it is taking is to be commended.
Our region is known globally as a leader in clean energy; but
without fit-for-purpose port infrastructure we are at risk of
missing out on the benefits of having wind generation off our
shores. The choice is clear: either we take action today to ensure
SLO County shares in the jobs and other economic opportunities that
these projects will create or we let those benefits slip away to
other parts of the state."
If built, an O&M port facility would create a long-term link
between the projects off California's Central Coast and the
San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County communities.
Additional regional perspectives:
"Offshore wind developers have invested more than $425 million into three projects off the Central
Coast. With the right infrastructure, our region is uniquely
positioned to serve as a small-scale operations and maintenance
hub, transporting crews and equipment to the sites 20-plus miles
offshore," REACH President/CEO Melissa
James said. "This critical step builds on community
collaboration between the Port San Luis Harbor District, SLO County
and the private sector to further evaluate the possibilities and
capture the jobs and other economic benefits of this new innovation
industry."
"Members of the IBEW and many of our partner building trades
unions are already supporting the creation of an American offshore
wind industry on the U.S. East Coast. We are now also actively
supporting efforts in D.C. and Sacramento to ensure Californian's can realize
the same clean energy and economic benefits from offshore wind on
the West Coast," said Mark
Simonin, Business Manager for IBEW Local 639. "We
applaud the steps taken by the Port San Luis Board last night. They
are creating a pathway for hundreds of new family-sustaining clean
energy careers here in the Central Coast, both in terms of port
project construction and long-term project operations."
"Our members are proud to support the build-out of this
burgeoning new industry off our coast, which will not only
accelerate the shift to clean energy but will create hundreds of
long-term, family-supporting jobs. With its highly trained and
growing union workforce the Central Coast is well-equipped to
successfully deliver the offshore and onshore infrastructure
upgrades that are needed to get clean power to homes and businesses
across our region," said David
Baldwin, Business Manager for the San Luis Obispo County
Plumbers, Pipefitters, Steam Fitters, and HVACR Local 403.
A frequently asked questions (FAQs) with further details on the
project evaluation agreement and O&M ports more broadly is
available on the Clean Energy Terminal website:
https://cleanenergyterminals.com/
Port San Luis Harbor District
Port San Luis Harbor
District is responsible for maintaining the surrounding tidelands
and beaches of San Luis Obispo Bay. The harbor on the Central
Coast of California,
approximately 1.3 miles north of Avila Beach in San
Luis Obispo County. Originally acting as a major import-export hub
for passengers and commercial goods for the Central Coast, the
harbor has also been a major port for oil exports, and now also
serves as a recreational and tourist-serving area. The harbor
is also used by local commercial fishermen and marine science
researchers. For more information, please visit:
https://www.portsanluis.com/
Clean Energy Terminals
Clean Energy Terminals is a
project developer that invests in and develops offshore wind port
infrastructure. Clean Energy Terminals' projects unlock clean
energy generation, create long-term jobs and enable new local
economic benefits. As one of the only U.S. development teams to
have successfully built offshore wind marshalling, manufacturing,
and operations and maintenance facilities, Clean Energy Terminals
has the technical, commercial, and stakeholder engagement
experience needed to successfully deliver these major
infrastructure projects. For more information, please visit
https://cleanenergyterminals.com.
Contact:
For Port San Luis Harbor District:
Suzy Watkins
suzyw@portsanluis.com
For Clean Energy Terminals:
Jocelyn Brennan
Jocelyn@thehrmcorp.com
805-748-7630
Brian Sabina
bsabina@cleanenergyterminals.com
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SOURCE Clean Energy Terminals