Later today, the federal government will auction off 300,000 acres of federal waters off the Louisiana and Texas coasts for the first offshore wind development in the Gulf of Mexico.
According to one expert, wind energy won't supplant the oil and gas industry's dominance in Louisiana anytime soon.
"Over the next decade, a very, very, very small share of the energy produced here in Louisiana would come from wind," Dr. Greg Upton of the LSU Center for Energy Studies said. "While it's exciting to see new economic activity going on and that there's obviously an opportunity for this, we're probably still a few years away from seeing an actual wind farm out in the Gulf of Mexico."
Upton said it could be up to three years before a wind farm appears in state waters and four or five years before one is built in federal waters. According to Upton, once those wind farms are operational, the wind sector won't become a competitor to the oil and gas industry. In fact, Updton says the wind sector could help strengthen the state's oil and gas portfolio. That's because, Upton says, the wind sector could help Louisiana's oil and gas industry provide energy-based products to developing countries that rely on those exports.
"As we move to build offshore wind, for instance, or other forms of electricity generation, really what that's gonna do is create the energy that we need here in order to have those sectors that are export oriented," Upton said. "There's really no reason why we can't build out new sources of electricity generation while also growing that part of the sector that's historically oil and gas based."
How much will the fabrication and service industry for this emerging energy source impact Louisiana's economy? According to Upton, the new wind platforms will provide more jobs for the men and women who traditionally have worked in the oil and gas industry.
"It's going to be those same workers that manufacture those products that are needed for offshore oil and gas that service those platforms whenever they're offshore," Upton said.
Upton added that the Gulf lease sales for wind energy will also provide onshore jobs for oil and gas supply manufacturers.
"One of the big examples right now is a ship that's being built by Edison Chouest," Upton noted. "It's the first Jones Act service operating vessel for offshore wind in the United States."