The Port of Long Beach was recently awarded $20 million by the California Energy Commission to fund the development of Pier Wind, a proposed $4.7 billion, 400-acre terminal to assemble and deploy floating offshore wind turbines.
Port officials have agreed to match that total with $11 million of port funds to complete engineering, environmental and business planning requirements needed to begin construction.
“We thank the California Energy Commission for funding the Pier Wind project, which will enhance the nation’s energy independence and strengthen the electric grid to support electrification investments across the supply chain,” said Mario Cordero, chief executive of the Port of Long Beach.
Cordero recently announced he will step down from that post at the end of this year.
The grant funding came from Proposition 4, the climate bond measure approved in 2024 by California voters which set aside $475 million for port infrastructure projects connected to offshore wind development. Port officials have said they will seek additional funds through this measure as they become available.
They were also eyeing a pool of more than $400 million in federal funds for the project, but the administration of President Donald Trump this past summer said it would pull funding for all offshore wind projects. That money is thus off the table at least until the end of the Trump administration.
Meeting a climate goal
The proposed $4.7 billion Pier Wind facility aims to help California meet a goal of generating 25 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2045 – enough to power 25 million homes statewide. It would allow for the staging, storage and assembly of the world’s largest offshore wind turbines, which can stand as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
Ironically, none of the wind turbines that would be assembled at this facility would be deployed immediately offshore, due to a general lack of consistent strong winds. Rather, the assembled components would be towed to offshore wind farm lease areas off the Central and Northern California coasts that have more suitable wind patterns.
The proposed project is undergoing environmental review by local, state and federal regulatory agencies, including seeking input from the Long Beach community.
Assuming port officials are able to secure sufficient funding, construction of the pier could start as soon as 2027. On that timeline, the first 200 acres could be completed in 2031, with the final 200 acres coming online in 2035.
