Washington (AFP) - The Biden administration announced plans on Thursday to expand the use of wind energy by building floating offshore wind platforms.
The Interior Department said the objective is to deploy 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035, enough to power more than five million homes.
It seeks to reduce the cost of floating offshore wind energy by more than 70 percent by 2035.
"We're launching efforts to seize a new opportunity -- floating offshore wind," White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy said at a briefing for reporters.
McCarthy said the technology "will let us build in deepwater areas where turbines can't be secured directly to the seafloor, but where there are strong winds that we can now harness."
The Biden administration has previously announced a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.
Two-thirds of America's offshore wind energy potential is in deep-water areas such as off the coast of California and Oregon that require floating platforms, officials said.
To kick off the program, the administration announced nearly $50 million in funding for research and development.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said her department will coordinate with the Interior Department "to ensure that floating offshore wind can coexist with wildlife and with fishing."
