Humboldt Bay Project Receives $426M Grant for Offshore Wind Terminal Construction

The United States government allocates a substantial grant of $426 million for the commencement of the Humboldt Bay project, which is dedicated to constructing an offshore wind terminal. The multi-purpose port facility is anticipated to start building in 2025 for its first Phase which will provide sustainable energy in the future.

(Photo : Beach Press Telegram/Port of Long Beach)

$426m Grant For Humboldt Bay Project 

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a $426.7 million grant to the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District for the development and upkeep of offshore wind infrastructure.

The primary functions of the modern marine terminal that will be constructed as part of the Humboldt Bay project are the transportation, import, staging, pre-assembly, final assembly, launch, in-water construction, and long-term maintenance of floating offshore wind turbine devices within the District. 

An eco-shoreline is one of the environmental protection strategies incorporated into the project. As mentioned, the planning and design phases of the project are still ongoing, and it is projected that the necessary permits for Phase I will be obtained in 2025, while the completion of the design is planned to take place in 2026. The building of around one turbine per week on average is intended to be carried out by the terminal project, designed to accommodate up to 25-megawatt turbines.

When the terminal is built, it will also help fulfill the clean energy targets of the state and the federal government, which require that at least 5 gigawatts of power be generated offshore in California by 2030 and 25 gigawatts by 2045. Thus, the federal government has set a nationwide target of 30 gigawatts by 2030 and 110 gigawatts by 2050.

On the other hand, the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects grant program of the Department of Transportation offers funding worth $426,719,810. However, private investment will be required to match these monies to get the project's development off the ground.

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Other Grants Received By Humboldt Bay Project 

With the primary goal of providing support for offshore wind energy across the West Coast of the United States, the project is intended to function as a multi-purpose port facility. As a result of this opportunity, Humboldt County has the potential to become a national leader in the fight against climate change, rising sea levels, and green site development. Aside from concluding a ten-year process to remediate a contaminated site, the undertaking will generate substantial employment opportunities in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

Accordingly, the following grants have been awarded to this project up to this point.

• 2020 ($65,000) - Humboldt County Headwaters Fund

• 2021 ($576,191) - State Lands Commission 

• 2022 ( $10,450,000) - California Energy Commission

• 2023 ($8,672,986) - MARAD PIDP grant

• 2024 ($426,719,810) - Federal Department of Transportation

A total of $446,483,987 in grant money was allocated to the District to facilitate the construction of what will be the first floating offshore wind port terminal in the Western Hemisphere as well as the first offshore wind port project on the West coast of North America at the same time.

Furthermore, on freshly constructed ground made up of dredged material, the project aims to build a terminal area that is 400 acres in size. An assembly of turbine systems nearly the size of the Eiffel Tower would occur inside the terminal. After that, the turbines would float into a wet storage area adjacent to the terminal before being towed out to sea.

A brand new pier would be constructed along the northern side of the terminal to offer access to the terminal from the water. This dock would accommodate delivery vessels and floating foundation transfers for the turbines. In addition, the plans call for constructing a transportation corridor that would span 30 acres and be built on dredged material, which would supply the complex with space for four vehicle access paths.

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