A digital rendering of the fully built-out Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal. Image courtesy of the Harbor District.


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As we settle into the new year and prepare for what will hopefully be a peaceful transition of presidential power, your ever-curious LoCO has been wondering what’s next for Humboldt’s burgeoning offshore wind industry and the port development project that will support it. 

At a press conference at Mar-a-Lago earlier this week, President-elect Donald J. Trump promised that “no new windmills” would be built in the United States after he takes office and insisted that wind turbines kill whales, although scientists have said there is no evidence to support such claims. So, what does that mean for the floating offshore wind project planned 20 miles west of Eureka?

To learn more about what’s to come in 2025, we reached out to Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Development Director Rob Holmlund for an update on the Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

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LoCO: It’s been a while since we’ve heard a progress report on port development and the offshore wind projects slated for the North Coast. What’s the Harbor District been up to lately?

Rob Holmlund: Well, the possibly unsatisfying answer is that we’re up to the same thing we’ve been up to for the past year. This is a big project, so none of our fundamental plans have really changed. We’re deep into the permitting and design process, so there’s nothing fundamentally new to share but there’s plenty of activity going on. That’s the short answer.

LoCO: Is the Harbor District concerned about the incoming presidency? President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to kill offshore wind energy projects “on day one” of his presidency. What is the industry doing to prepare for the change in leadership and what does it mean for the projects planned for our coastline?

Holmlund: The state of California has goals to produce 25 gigawatts of offshore wind [energy] by 2045, with or without the federal government. … There’s a whole portfolio of renewable energy projects – solar, onshore wind, offshore wind – that the state is actively working on to have 100 percent clean electricity in the state by 2045. Offshore wind is just a part of that, but it’s a really important part. … Our offshore wind project will proceed in support of the state’s [renewable energy goals].

Another thing to think about is the East Coast. On the West Coast, we have these two lease areas – one off the Humboldt coast and one off the Morro Bay coast – but there are literally dozens [of lease areas] off the East Coast – from New England all the way down to Virginia – that are actively involved in permitting, in the early planning stages or have wind turbines in them already. The East Coast has been doing this for years. … Prior to the first Trump administration, there was a lot of activity on the East Coast for offshore wind. It slowed down a little bit during the Trump administration, and then picked back up during the Biden administration. So I think it’s safe to assume that something similar will happen during the second Trump administration. … He may not be supportive, but I don’t think that will lead to a complete elimination of the offshore wind industry. We still have the state of California pushing really hard.

LoCO: One of the first things that comes to my mind is potentially limited access to federal grant funds. Could the Trump administration limit access to federal funding for offshore wind energy projects?

Holmlund: Well, we right now, we have somewhere in the range of $455 million in grants from the state and federal government for the [port development] project, and those grants are pretty well secured so it’s difficult to imagine any of them being retracted. And I don’t know that [the district] is immediately counting on more federal funds in the next four years. It’s a big project and we can definitely use some help, but I think we’re pretty well set, at least for the next four years.

LoCO: As I understand, the district has until September 2026, to secure the matching funds needed to match the $426 million Department of Transportation grant that was awarded last year. Any progress there?

Holmlund: The matching funds have to be non-federal, which is helpful for this conversation. The state of California passed the Climate Bond [Proposition 4] this past November and … somewhere in the range of $800 million is earmarked for offshore wind port terminals. That will be a good source to provide a match to the federal grant. We’re also looking at a number of other state opportunities and, ultimately, the private sector is going to have to invest.

LoCO: When you say private sector, are you referring to offshore wind developers?

Holmlund: It could be offshore wind developers, it could be OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) or any number of businesses in the offshore wind industry. It could even just be private financing. There’s a lot of options that we’re currently exploring.

LoCO: Shifting back to the heavy lift marine terminal project, I understand the District recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Port of Long Beach to collaborate on port development. Can you describe what that collaboration will look like?

Holmlund: The MOU with the Port of Long Beach, which also includes the State Lands Commission, is really formalizing a partnership that we’ve had for well over a year. When I was talking earlier about the state’s goals for offshore wind, if you crunch those numbers … and you look at the average, estimated size of each wind turbine, you’ll likely need somewhere in the range of 1,600 wind turbines to be assembled and deployed into the ocean in the next 20 years. We’ve got about five years before we’re going to be putting any in the ocean while we construct these projects. So, when you’re talking about assembling 1,600 of them in 15 years, there’s no way our project could do that alone and there’s no way that the Port of Long Beach’s project could do that alone either. 

The Port of Long Beach has a project very similar to ours but it’s about double the size. … We were actually ahead of them in the planning process, so we’ve been sharing some of our design concepts, environmental analyses and stakeholder strategies. As they started catching up, they started sharing their work with us and we thought, ‘Hey, let’s formalize this.’ A lot of people say that Long Beach and Humboldt are competitors … but really we’re not. Both of our projects are needed to get to the state goal and we are actively collaborating on a weekly basis.

LoCO: The district’s partnership agreement with Crowley Wind Services expired in March of last year. At that time, the district said Crowley would continue to support the project in one form or another. Is Crowley still working with the district on the port development project? Does the district plan to issue a second request for proposals (RFP) anytime soon?

Holmlund: We don’t have a formal relationship with Crowley currently. Like a lot of companies associated with offshore wind, we consult with them periodically and ask for their feedback on designs. … We did release a solicitation of interest (SOI) to companies that may be interested in responding to an RFP to operate the project site, and we got dozens of responses. Really, we were just seeing what kind of interest [there is] in operating the site or being involved in the project in the future. We’re using the [SOI] as the basis for developing an RFP, which we will likely release later this year and begin the process of identifying an operator.

LoCO: The district received criticism from North Coast tribes and others for its decision to enter into an exclusive right to negotiate with Crowley due to the company’s track record. Some also felt the district entered into the partnership too quickly. It sounds like the district has learned from that experience and is moving through the process more carefully. Can you speak to that?

Holmlund: [The Harbor District is] under a different leadership, and we’re approaching things differently. At this point, we’re meeting regularly with seven different tribes. We have a committee of aquaculture businesses, a committee of fishing businesses, a community advisory committee and a technical advisory committee, all of which include regular, everyday citizens of our community. So, we’re working really hard to understand the interests of various stakeholders and we will involve a number of different people in the process of … selecting an operator.

LoCO: Thank you for taking the time to provide an update on the project. Is there anything else you’d like to add or share with our community?

Holmlund: Sure. We regularly update our website and there are literally dozens of technical studies that are available to the public to review on there. I imagine you’ve already seen the YouTube videos that we’ve done, but those are still available. … There’s going to be more meetings and a lot more information available to the public over the next 12 months, so now’s a good time to get engaged in the project if you haven’t already.

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