Pacific Coast

The water on the Pacific Coast becomes deeper much closer to the shore compared to the East Coast, making offshore wind development more challenging. However, the Pacific Coast has the potential for high capacity offshore  wind turbines; the winds off California’s coast alone could generate as much as 130 GW of electricity, about twice the state’s needs on a hot afternoon. Seattle-based Principle Power aims to install America’s first deep-water offshore wind farm off the coast of central Oregon. The company has signed an agreement with the locally owned Tillamook People’s Utility District in Oregon to install floating wind turbines.