The Impact Of Offshore Wind Development On Labor

Sebastian Feculak is the Political Coordinator for The International Association of Ironworkers Mid Atlantic.

Question: How does offshore development impact NC's labor landscape?

Answer: North Carolina is joining many of the states on the East Coast in diversifying its energy sources by seeking clean energy from offshore wind development. The production of this new industry however is an undertaking which requires collaboration on several different fronts to start up the development, technology research and innovation, including securing supply chains and workforce development.

Up until recently, there was only one commercial project completed in 2016 at Block Island in Rhode Island which included 5 wind turbines supplying 30 megawatts, and a more recent pilot project in Virginia at Hampton Roads of 2 turbines providing 12 megawatts of energy. But ever since, over a dozen new lease areas have been opened by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for projects of much larger scale. Therefore demand grew for industry partners, government entities, and trades organizations to work together to train the necessary workforce.

What North Carolina policy makers and Duke Energy envision is a goal of 8 Gigawatts by 2040 alone, and the Biden administration is aiming at 30 Gigawatts by 2030. North Carolina has one of the longest coastlines among its neighbors, accessible ports and is a leader in manufacturing on the East Coast. The Ironworkers Association has seen this opportunity to develop apprenticeship, training opportunities with our facilities, and work with Community Colleges and vocational training centers to develop the necessary workforce. Many of our Ironworkers will be trained to complete the construction off the coast of North Carolina and the rest of the country, but there are also tens of thousands of jobs which will be necessary in manufacturing of parts.

Question: What excites you most about the possibilities of offshore wind development?

Answer: What excites me most is the opportunity to work with various stakeholders from communities across North Carolina to ensure everyone is able to participate in the development of this new energy source. Recently Ørsted, an offshore wind developer, announced a Project Labor Agreement with North America's Building Trades Unions, titled National Offshore Wind Agreement (NOWA), which will ensure that union labor is paid fair wages and benefits in constructing offshore wind. As part of NOWA, it includes the creation of an Equitable Workforce Committee for each project which Ørsted will construct. Governor Cooper and his administration has also been very proactive in helping develop Offshore Wind in North Carolina by creating the NC Towers task force and including Union Trades as part of the conversation.

Question: What is on the horizon for your organization's work? What can we give our network a heads up about?

Answer: Offshore wind production and development are not stopping. Every week there are conversations about how to move the industry forward BOEM has already announced comment periods on the entirety of available Mid-Atlantic lease areas for offshore wind, but not only for Offshore Wind infrastructure built with large steel monopiles secured into the ground of the Continental Shelf, but also for new floating devices beyond it.