13 Organizations Urge Atlantic States to Move Forward with Planning and Solicitations for Offshore Transmission Systems

April 11, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the development of offshore wind projects continues to increase across the U.S., a letter signed by 13 clean energy and environmental organizations was sent to policymakers in coastal Atlantic states today, requesting the states complete the necessary planning and solicitation for offshore transmission systems to support the industry’s long-term growth. The groups urge these states to utilize the de facto global hardware standards that have emerged through collaborative work between European utilities and the electric equipment supply chain.

Led by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and the American Clean Power Association (ACP), the letter details how the U.S. is well-positioned to benefit from Europe’s standardized 525 kilovolt (kV) high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system hardware design for converter platforms and transmission cables. If adopted by Atlantic coastal states, the groups state that these de facto standards will allow offshore wind energy to increase at the scale and pace necessary to realize state energy goals.

Additional benefits of implementing these hardware standards include:

Cost-effective access to the global supply chain;
Quicker, scalable transmission solicitations;
Improved certainty for offshore developers and the global and U.S. transmission supply chain; and
Development of less than half as many offshore grid systems, reducing environmental impacts while delivering the same amount of low-cost, clean energy to American families and businesses.

“Atlantic Coast states can and should move forward with planning and procurement of offshore transmission systems based on the work that has led to the developing supply chain and a significant order book,” the groups explain in the letter. “Given the lead times and supply chain orders already in place, beginning transmission solicitations for Atlantic-based offshore transmission as expeditiously as possible will help ensure that systems that allow offshore wind energy to increase in scale and benefits can be in place by the 2032-2033 time frame.”

“America cannot afford to drag its heels any longer in planning and deploying the transmission necessary to achieve the clean energy transition,” said ACORE President and CEO Ray Long. “Widespread growth in U.S. electricity demand is going to require more energy than ever before, and offshore wind is a key component of meeting that demand. The standards for offshore transmission systems laid out in this letter will help facilitate the timely build out of the infrastructure necessary to support this critical industry.”

“America’s offshore wind industry is growing rapidly. To keep that momentum, coastal states will need to send clear and consistent signals to suppliers. That’s why state collaboration to standardize offshore wind transmission is vital,” said ACP CEO Jason Grumet. “Developing gigawatts of offshore wind projects and building up our domestic supply chain is a long-term effort – coordination today will help to unlock the benefits of this clean, reliable resource that is essential to meet our nation’s growing energy demand.”

Click here to download a copy of the letter. For more information on the operational and market benefits of HVDC transmission technology, click here to read an ACORE-sponsored report from The Brattle Group and DNV.

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About ACORE
For over 20 years, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has been the nation’s leading voice on the issues most essential to renewable energy expansion. ACORE unites finance, policy, and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. For more information, please visit www.acore.org.

About ACP
The American Clean Power Association (ACP) is the leading voice of today’s multi-tech clean energy industry, representing over 800 energy storage, wind, utility-scale solar, clean hydrogen and transmission companies. ACP is committed to meeting America’s national security, economic and climate goals with fast-growing, low-cost, and reliable domestic power. Follow ACP on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and learn more at cleanpower.org.

Media Contacts
Alex Hobson, ACORE Senior Vice President of Communications, hobson@acore.org.

Terry Banks, ACP Deputy Director, Media Relations, tbanks@cleanpower.org.

The post 13 Organizations Urge Atlantic States to Move Forward with Planning and Solicitations for Offshore Transmission Systems appeared first on ACORE.

https://acore.org/news/13-organizations-urge-atlantic-states-to-move-forward-with-planning-and-solicitations-for-offshore-transmission-systems/

Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy Concepts Can’t Violate the Laws of Physics

Published

16 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Alice Rush

In the early days of 2GreenEnergy, my people and I were vigorously engaged in finding solid ideas in cleantech that needed funding in order to move forward.

I vividly remember a conversation with a guy in Maryland who was trying to explain the (ostensible) breakthrough that he and his team had made in hydrokinetics. When I was having trouble visualizing what we was talking about, he asked me to “think of it as a river in a box.”

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “You mean you take a box full of standing water, add energy to it get it moving, then extract that energy, leaving you with more energy that you added to it.”

“Exactly.”

I politely explained that the laws of physics, specifically the first and second laws of thermodynamics, make this impossible.

He wasn’t through, however, and insisted that, in his office, his people had constructed a “working model.”

Here’s where my tone descended into something less than 100% polite. I told him that he may think he has a working model, but he’s wrong; if he believes this, he’s ignorant; if he doesn’t, but is conducting this conversation anyway, he’s a fraud.

“But don’t you want to come see it?” he implored.

“No. Not only would not fly across the country to see whatever it is you claim to have built, I wouldn’t walk across the street to a “working model” of something that is theoretically impossible.”

—

I tell this story because the claim made at the upper left is essentially identical. You’re pumping water up out of a stream, and then claiming to extract more energy when the water flows back into the stream.

Of course, social media today is rife with complete crap like this. We’ve devolved to a point where defrauding money out of idiots is rapidly replacing baseball as our national pastime.