NOIA Applauds RI Offshore Wind Project

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) president Randall Luthi issued a statement congratulating “steel in the water” for Deep Water Wind’s Block Island Wind Farm, stating an all-of-the-above strategy combining offshore wind with offshore oil and gas off the U.S. Atlantic Coast benefits the U.S. on multiple levels.

 

“NOIA congratulates Deepwater Wind as on-site construction begins on its Block Island Wind Farm offshore Rhode Island. It is gratifying that Deepwater Wind chose NOIA member company Gulf Island Fabrication for the off-site construction of the foundations for this project, which is on course to be America’s first offshore wind farm,” Luthi said. “It is also fitting that a company best known for fabricating offshore oil and gas structures played a role in constructing this historic project.”

 

Luthi continued, “NOIA has long supported an all-of-the-above offshore energy strategy, and we look forward to seeing more partnerships between offshore renewable companies and offshore oil and gas companies made possible by the success of the Department of the Interior’s offshore wind leasing program. The U.S. derives about 17 percent of its domestic oil production, and about 5 percent of its domestic natural gas production from offshore areas, even though current federal policies prohibit oil and gas development off the Atlantic Coast. Offshore wind combined with offshore oil and gas in the Atlantic and additional areas of the outer continental shelf will strengthen our nation’s energy security, produce thousands of new jobs and benefit American consumers.”