Brooklyn, NY – In a major stride towards fostering sustainable and inclusive offshore wind development, leaders from various states have recently committed to accelerated offshore wind solicitations to meet their climate change goals and laws. When awarded, these solicitations grant offshore wind developers the ability to provide renewable wind energy to power millions of homes within each state and provide billions of dollars of local investments toward equitable economic, workforce, environmental, and community development. Local Content and US Offshore proudly publish their end-of-year Local Content Offshore Wind Market Intelligence Report (New York + New Jersey) to provide valuable insights – with local stakeholder activity and sentiment at the forefront. This free resource was designed to proactively support offshore wind developers in preparing their state solicitation submissions with real-world data surrounding the communities they must serve. This resource is made exclusively for offshore wind developers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and government. The report provides high-level local content and stakeholder engagement insights using:
- Social Media| What the public says, feels, and believes.
- Press Activity | What messages the public encounters.
- Digital/Online Activity Data | What the public does and how it changes.
“We are fortunate to have the experience providing winning local content consultancy for some of the largest offshore wind development solicitations in US history. However, at this moment in time, it is important for the industry to get it right with critical insights from public stakeholders being understood and incorporated into developer solicitation submissions. We want to see this type of intelligence available in the open market for the interest of the local residents, small/diverse businesses and nonprofits that need to benefit from every local content requirement that is mandated within these solicitations.” says Brian Moore, Director of LocalContent.com.
Local Content also better known as local content requirements (LCR), are policies that mandate the utilization of local goods, services, workforce, and community benefit investments within infrastructure development projects such as offshore wind, maritime/ports, and commercial real estate. Current offshore wind solicitations are evaluated based upon not just projected pricing for ratepayers, but prospective offshore wind developers are required to provide meaningful and measurable short- and long-term plans in the areas of:
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Supplier Diversity
- Workforce and Jobs
- Environmental Justice/Disadvantaged Communities
- Environmental Mitigation Plans
- Fisheries Mitigation Plans
- Community benefit investments
“Our international and domestic offshore construction and marine services experience, combined with our market intelligence expertise, gives us a unique and highly practical perspective into what meaningful local content utilization looks like. We consider this market tool one of many initiatives needed to bridge and ultimately close the gap between the industry and the communities who will host the ever-increasing number of wind farm projects,” says Monica St Claire, a New Jersey resident and CEO of US Offshore. “We recommend that industry professionals take advantage of locally focused market intelligence reporting to demonstrate a commitment to recognizing the voices of local communities while also gaining a market competitive advantage.”
Offshore wind developers will need to move quickly within their efforts to meet the upcoming solicitation submission deadlines. Even for prospective developers moving just as proactively in other markets with accelerated and/or combined solicitations like New England (which includes Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut), this market report is an invaluable tool.
The report will only be available until January 5, 2024. Offshore Wind Developers, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), and Government Employees can download the report www.localcontent.com/local-content-market-intelligence/
Upcoming Offshore Wind Solicitation Deadlines and Announcements
- New York – Proposal submissions are due by January 25, 2024.
- New England (MA, RI, and CT) – Proposal submissions are due by January 25, 2024.
- New Jersey – Projected solicitation bid announcement early Q1 of 2024.
Local Content and US Offshore will provide enhanced market intelligence reporting insights during the National Clean Energy Local Content Summit taking place February 20 – 21, 2024 in New Rochelle, NY.
About US Offshore
US Offshore provides specialist offshore and onshore renewable energy services, including cable landfall, burial, maintenance, engineering, inspection, marine project management, and strategic market intelligence. US Offshore is women-owned and a proud founding partner of the Equity + Environmental Justice Center. www.us-offshore.com
About Local Content
Local Content leads the measurement, reporting and compliance of the utilization of local goods, services, workforce and community benefit investments for infrastructure development projects. Local Content owns and operates several brands advancing these efforts including their Local Content Certification that creates meaningful and measurable stakeholder engagement. www.localcontent.com
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