The US has the second largest emission of greenhouse gasses in the world. Therefore, the US plays a key role in the global green transition.

The Biden administration has set a national goal of 30 gigawatt offshore wind by 2030. In order to meet these national ambitions, there is a need for a well-functioning and thought-through approval procedure and regulatory framework. If the US meets this goal, green power from offshore wind will supply more than 18 million American households. This is more than four times the total number of households in Denmark.

To realise the huge potential for offshore wind in the US, the close cooperation with Danish authorities and businesses is an important factor in the upcoming boom of American offshore wind. Denmark has unique knowhow and experiences on the regulatory framework and on building offshore wind farms. The wind turbine technology was born in Denmark and more than 30 years of Danish experience with implementation of offshore wind will benefit the US directly through a continually close government-to-government cooperation.

Through the cooperation, Denmark contributes to making it more attractive and cost efficient for the US to invest in offshore wind. This will provide a faster and less expensive realisation of the 30 gigawatt offshore wind goal. If the national political ambitions are met, it will displace CO₂-emissions from energy consumption equal to up to 75 million tons per year, assuming coal and natural gas are displaced by offshore wind. In comparison, Denmark’s overall CO2-emissions were 44 million tons in 2021.

Since 2016, the Danish Energy Agency has had a close cooperation with the American federal authority, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which belongs under the United States’ Department of the Interior. BOEM is responsible for the overall framework conditions in terms of regulating offshore wind sites and issuing permits for new wind farms for most parts of the sea territory. Through this partnership, Denmark has made substantial contributions by sharing Danish lessons learned when American sea areas are identified and prepared by BOEM.

The cooperation aims at, for example, sharing knowledge on streamlining pre-investigations of sites and streamlining environmental procedures and approval process. At state level, the Danish Energy Agency cooperates with a number of states, for example California Energy Commission (CEC) in California. The CEC is leading planning and regulation of offshore wind to be sourced into the Californian energy system.

As part of this collaboration and in line with recommendations from Denmark on having a much larger target for offshore wind than the originally planned, the CEC has increased the state’s target from 10 gigawatt offshore wind to 25 gigawatt by 2045.