In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Matt Shields, a senior offshore wind analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Among other research projects, the lab conducts offshore wind techno-economic analysis, which involves developing cost models, analyzing market and technology trends, and projecting the future costs of offshore wind. Shields is the lead author of a new study that explores the demand for a domestic offshore wind energy supply chain following the Biden administration’s March 2021 goal to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind in the United States by 2030.

Shields and Hayes discuss some challenges to achieving the 2030 goal—including constraints on the number of turbine installation vessels and ports—along with the potential employment impacts of building a domestic supply chain for offshore wind, and how best to synchronize the design of turbines, installation vessels, and ports along the supply chain.

References and recommendations:

“Supply Chain Road Map for Offshore Wind Energy” by Matt Shields, Ruth Marsh, Jeremy Stefek, Frank Oteri, Ross Gould, Noé Rouxel, Katherine Diaz, Javier Molinero, Abigayle Moser, Courtney Malvik, and Sam Tirone; https://www.nrel.gov/wind/offshore-supply-chain-road-map.html

“Offshore Wind Market Report: 2021 Edition” by Walter Musial, Paul Spitsen, Philipp Beiter, Patrick Duffy, Melinda Marquis, Abryn Cooperman, Rob Hammond, and Matt Shields; https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/articles/offshore-wind-market-report-2021-edition-released

“Supply Chain Contracting Forecast for U.S. Offshore Wind Power—The Updated and Expanded 2021 Edition” by the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind; https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.udel.edu/dist/e/10028/files/2021/10/SIOW-supply-chain-report-2021-update-FINAL-1.pdf

“Offshore Wind Insider” podcast; https://www.offshorewindus.org/oswinsider/

“The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/176226/the-black-swan-second-edition-by-nassim-nicholas-taleb/