The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management conducted the first ever sale of leases for offshore wind along the west coast of the United States recently. Equinor secured a 2 gigawatt lease in the Morro Bay area near San Luis Obisbo that has the potential to generate enough electricity to power 750,000 US homes.
Offshore wind is not the same on the west coast as it is on the east. The continental shelf in the east is wide and relatively shallow, making wind turbines built on the ocean floor the preferred option. But the continental shelf on the west coast is narrow and drops off steeply to depths that make building foundations on the ocean floor impractical. For that reason, floating wind turbines are the preferred choice for that area.
