Phil Totaro – Will the US meet its offshore energy goals?

In the realm of offshore wind installations along the East Coast, the US has set its sights on nothing short of monumental goals. Yet, as the winds of progress push forward, they encounter formidable obstacles that impede their journey. Enter Phil Totaro, a seasoned expert from Intelstor, who generously provides Allen and Joel with a captivating insider's perspective on the intricate web of infrastructure challenges and formidable financial headwinds hindering this ambitious mission. Don't even think about missing out on this enlightening podcast! Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWind Power Lab - https://windpowerlab.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!  Phil Totaro Allen Hall: I'm Allen Hall, president of Weather Guard Lightning Tech, and I'm here with the Vice President of North American Sales of Wind Power LAB, Joel Saxum and the CEO and founder of Intelstor, Phil Totaro. And we are here to discuss offshore wind development in the United States because we get a lot of questions about that via LinkedIn, via chat, via text messages that there's, there's a lot of concern about where the US is going because there appears to be delays and. You know, as the offshore wind is rapidly a growing industry and the US has a potential to be a major player in it, but there are several supply constraints that are going to be holding back development that includes a shortage of vessels and ports, the lack of a domestic manufacturing chain for the turbines, foundations, and ships. A shortage of skilled workers and also, you know, there's just regulatory issues, transmission lines, all of that. These constraints are, are our major challenge to the US schools of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. So to meet this goal, the US will need to invest and. All kinds of efforts to even get close to the 30 gigawatt number. So this discussion today is to try to highlight some of the issues and, and, and make our listeners aware of what's happening out there because large players on the US East Coast are starting to try to delay projects or asking for different PPA prices or trying to roughly trying to raise prices about 20%. Why are they trying to do that? So Phil, hey, welcome back to the  Phil Totaro: program. Thanks, Allen. Thanks for having  Allen Hall: me. So there is a, a supply constraint and, and we're, Joel and I have gone back and forth about how big that constraint is. Are we 29 gigawatts out of 30 or are we more like 15 gigawatts out of 30 by 2030? Phil Totaro: We're leaning more towards the 15. If, if that, and unfortunately The one answer to your question about why, you know and, and why are people trying to slow down? Why are people trying to raise prices by 20%? The short answer is inflation. The bigger question though, is it, it looks like we're not actually quite ready to pull the trigger on some of the investment commitments that have been made. You know, there are nael factories that need to be built. There are blade factories that need to be built foundations, et cetera. And while there have been many public statements about it which have excited and delighted, you know, local politicians who are interested in jobs and tax revenue, It. We haven't actually seen money, a whole lot of money get spent yet. I think of the 10 to 15 factory commitments or expansions let's throwing in, you know, some, some other domestic facilities. There's about 15 or so facilities today that are ...