Is the U.S. Primed for an Offshore Wind Boom

As the energy market evolves from large centralized systems to more decentralized networks comprised of cleaner, lower carbon and renewable sources, development of renewables projects such as wind and solar are a key focus. As part of these projects, renewable project owners and developers need to evaluate the lifecycle, environmental impacts, and property acquisition as they plan, budget, and execute their renewable project. Join us to learn about the timeline and importance of development steps involved in these projects.

The 2018 Tax Plan has some unexpected benefits for commercial solar. Commercial solar installers can now depreciate 85% of the system cost in the first year of its operation, and the corporate tax rate has been lowered by 40%. In a year where there has been a lot of negative policy news for the solar industry, the new tax bill is some welcome good news. In this webinar we will design a simple commercial solar installation, and we will calculate the financial returns of cash and loan financed projects. Finally, we will give some steps on ways to sell solar under the new tax plan.

Corporate sourcing strategies can be classified in many different ways, including on-site and off-site, and combinations of the two. This webinar will look at on-site corporate sourcing in particular, whether self-owned and self-invested, leased, an on-site PPA or a near-site direct wire PPA. Land and roofspace are always a key challenge, as is the long term rental of the roof of a building and the need for a back-up grid connection.

With over 30 different floating wind system designs and concepts - some old, some new - there needs to be special considerations to allow a pathway to commercialization. The technology is so new that no market has yet deployed it at scale. This gives US floating offshore wind developers a challenge, but also an opportunity to lead the world. Floating wind farm foundations are seen as key to the long-term growth of the US offshore wind sector. After all, the US has abundant experience in the development of floating structures for the oil and gas sector. However, experts say the biggest issue is how to cut the cost of floating structures as quickly as possible. With floating wind due to be a major theme at the 4th US Offshore Wind conference in Boston on June 10-11, 2019, this webinar provides insights into how cost-reduction might be achieved.