top of page

How would electricity get from the offshore wind turbines to shore?

For floating offshore wind turbines like those proposed off the coast of Wigi (1)/Humboldt Bay, there is not yet a specific proposed plan for transmitting energy to shore; however, the following is a description of what this process could entail:

Illustration of offshore wind transmission to the onshore grid. "1. Floating wind turbines are configured in an array to optimize the capture of wind energy. 2. Energy captured by the turbines is conveyed through a transmission line to a floating substation. 3. A transmission cable transmits the power from the floating substation to the shore, where it is connected to the onshore electric system."

Offshore wind transmission to onshore grid.

Source: BOEM (2)

First, power would flow from each individual wind turbine to a floating offshore substation through an inter-array cable. From the offshore substation, power would flow via an export cable to an onshore substation where it could connect to the wider electric grid. These cables would likely be buried underground wherever possible, both to protect the cable and to reduce environmental impacts. A technique known as “horizontal directional drilling” (3) would allow developers to place the cables underground with reduced seafloor and ground disturbance. Cables will also not be visible on the beach. Tribal collaborations and cultural monitoring are an important part of this process to avoid and minimize disturbance of cultural sites.

​

Watch this video discussing bringing offshore wind power to shore using horizontal directional drilling (4), as opposed to direct burial:

References​

  1. Wiyot Tribe. (n.d.). Wiyot Placename Video [Video]. www.wiyot.us/162/Wiyot-Placename-Video

  2. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (n.d.). Diagram of Turbines to Shore [Image]. Lost Coast Outpost. https://lostcoastoutpost.com/loco-media/loco-media/blog/post/36251/diagram-of-turbines-to-shore.jpeg 

  3. Wikipedia Contributors. (2024, February 3). Directional boring. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directional_boring

  4. Ørsted. (2022, November 3). Landfall: bringing power to shore using horizontal directional drilling [Video]. YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzWBm3whZRg

bottom of page