The Floating Offshore Wind Shot is an initiative to help usher in a clean energy future by driving U.S. leadership in floating offshore wind design, development, and manufacturing.
The Floating Offshore Wind Shot is led by the Departments of Energy (DOE), Interior (DOI), Commerce, and Transportation. It is part of DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiative to tackle key remaining technical challenges to reaching U.S. climate goals while creating jobs and economic opportunities for U.S. communities.
Floating offshore wind is key to transitioning dense population centers to clean energy, and would also mean thousands of jobs in wind manufacturing, installation, and operations.
The Floating Offshore Wind Energy Shot seeks to reduce the cost of floating offshore wind energy by more than 70%, to $45 per megawatt-hour by 2035 for deep water sites far from shore.
About two-thirds of U.S. offshore wind energy potential exists over waters too deep for today’s fixed-bottom wind turbine foundations secured directly to the sea floor, and instead require floating platforms. These structures will be among the largest humankind has ever constructed. Achieving the Floating Offshore Wind Shot goals will require an all-out effort to develop a robust domestic supply chain, reduce technology costs, and plan and build out needed transmission.
Floating Offshore Wind Shot™ PROGRESS AND PRIORITIES
On May 16, 2024, the Shot partners released a Progress and Priorities report, documenting over 50 milestones achieved to advance the Floating Offshore Wind Shot.
Floating Offshore Wind Shot™ Summit
The second Floating Offshore Wind Shot Summit was held on May 16, 2024, in Sacramento, California. Stay tuned for summaries and materials from the summit. View recordings and information from the 2024 summit.
The first summit, in February of 2023, featured leadership from across the federal government, states, tribal nations, and others. View recordings and information from the 2023 summit.
Goals of the Floating Offshore Wind Shot
Click the circles to explore the Shot goals
View the PDF version >>
Floating Offshore Wind News
Featured DOE research on floating offshore wind
- Floating Offshore Wind ReadINess (FLOWIN) Prize
- Floating Offshore Wind Shot Research Centers
- Regional Transmission Planning and Support
- Funding to Small Business to Advance Innovative Wind Technologies
- West Coast Offshore Wind Transmission Study
- DOE Lidar Buoy Deployment in Hawaii
- West Coast Ports Analysis
- Floating Offshore Wind Farm Design
- Award to advance two lightweight, lower-cost floating offshore wind turbine technologies
- ARPA-E Aerodynamic Turbines Lighter and Afloat with Nautical Technologies and Integrated Servo-control (ATLANTIS) Program
- DOE and BOEM studies to collect environmental baseline data and develop monitoring technologies on the West Coast
Other relevant DOE funding, efforts, or publications
- Funding and requests for information from DOE's Wind Energy Technologies Office
- U.S. Offshore Wind Supply Chain Roadmap
- U.S. Wind Industry Federal Incentives, Funding, and Partnership Opportunities Fact Sheet
- Funding to Address Wind Deployment Barriers
- National Offshore Wind Research and Development (R&D) Consortium
- Offshore Wind Operations and Maintenance Roadmap
- DOE Offshore Wind R&D
- DOE’s Loan Programs Office Loan Guarantees
- Clean Hydrogen RD&D
- Transmission Facilitation Program
- Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program
Key initiatives from federal partners
- Goal to deploy 15 GW of floating offshore wind by 2035
- Federal-state offshore wind partnership
- Port Infrastructure Development Program
- Federal Ship Financing Program (Title XI)
- Partnership with NOAA-Sea Grant to advance the co-existence of fishing, coastal communities, and regional ocean renewable energy development
DOE and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management hosted a webinar on their ambitious initiatives to position the U.S. to lead the world on floating offshore wind design, development, manufacturing, and deployment. Download the slides from this webinar.