USFR To Invest $700 Million In OffShore Wind Projects On US East Coast

USFR To Invest $700 Million In OffShore Wind Projects On US East Coast. Photo: Pexels

US-based manufacturer of steel components US Forged Rings Inc. (USFR) today announced a $700M investment in the US offshore wind industry to construct a tower fabrication facility and a steel forging plant. The company will use these two facilities to service the growing domestic offshore wind market, filling a critical supply chain gap for offshore wind components and alleviating bottlenecks for a market with goals of deploying 30 GW by 2030 and 110 GW by 2050. The company is in the final stages of evaluating East Coast locations in the US.

Once operational, the tower fabrication facility will produce 100 fully coated towers annually, that include internally produced flanges, eliminating potential delays and logistics issues, lowering the overall cost. The facility is designed from its inception to be expandable up to 200 towers annually, depending on demand. Also, through its several agreements,  USFR aims to produce final products that are 100 percent made in the country, read the press release by the firm. The construction of the facility is expected to begin by 2026 once all the required procedures are completed.

“This substantial investment serving US offshore wind was spurred by our confidence in the medium and long-term prospects of the U.S. market, which is in its early phases of development and needs a local supply chain to rely on,” said Giacomo Sozzi, President of USFR.  Further he also added, “These facilities will enable US developers and OEMs to have predictable costs and a reliable supply of vital components.  Equally important, the investment will result in direct environmental benefits including the reduction of significant pollution emitted by otherwise shipping these huge components from overseas.”

According to the US government, the US offshore wind energy project pipeline has reached a total of 40 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, including the operational 30-megawatt (MW) Block Island Wind Farm and the 12-MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project. Eighteen projects in the US offshore pipeline have reached the permitting phase, and eight states have set their own offshore wind energy procurement goals, which totals upto 40 GW by 2040.