Offshore wind can help meet energy needs, reduce carbon pollution and could benefit marine life and ocean habitats around the world.
Offshore wind is a renewable energy technology that will be critical to decarbonizing electricity, making our communities and oceans healthier and our energy resources more reliable around the world. This is especially true along the Atlantic coast, where there is great potential for wind energy due to the consistent availability of wind during the winter.
Offshore wind can also provide quality jobs and boost economic investments in local communities. These opportunities have inspired many countries to set ambitious offshore wind goals and they are moving quickly to achieve them.
Double Down, Triple Up
TNC is committed to the global ambition of doubling energy efficiency rates and tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030 to achieve the 1.5C pathway. Crucially, the world needs to install nearly 500 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030 to achieve the climate targets.
While the information needs vary from place to place, there is great interest in sharing policies, science and tools to improve offshore wind technology and the benefits it provides. Given the need for rapid offshore wind infrastructure expansion, TNC uses the best available science to help decisionmakers avoid impacts to and maximize benefits to marine life and habitat and the ocean communities that rely on them.
Download
Learn how The Nature Conservancy is working for a clean, green, and equitable energy future by accelerating offshore wind energy.
DOWNLOAD
Quote: Tricia K. Jedele
Developing offshore wind is a 21st century conservation strategy. Pairing the reduction of planet warming emissions with thoughtful and innovative offshore wind development can help marine and coastal life flourish and bring new opportunities to communities.
Offshore Wind in Action
Explore how TNC accelerates offshore wind development in North America.
Science
TNC uses the best available science to advance offshore wind in a way that maximizes benefits and minimizes harm to nature and people. Our research centers around how marine animals interact with wind turbines and underwater structures and how offshore wind can benefit local communities. We offer tools and recommendations that help federal and state agencies make decisions about developing offshore wind energy.
Read about our research on fish movement and offshore wind energy construction.
Explore our Marine Mapping Tool, which assesses marine life and habitats to support offshore wind environmental impact assessments.
Policy
We work at the federal and state levels to advance policies that accelerate offshore wind while benefiting communities and conservation. Our work focuses on passing and implementing new policies to incentivize development, building considerations for nature into project siting and design, advising on the best available science to support decisions and improving transmission to make sure the energy can get to where it is needed. We convene and collaborate with marine scientists and legal and policy experts to develop offshore wind approaches that will have a net positive impact on biodiversity.
Communities
Advancing clean energy offers an opportunity to promote a fair and just transition for workers, consumers and communities. This is especially important as we transition to a clean energy economy. Not only can we make sure that historically excluded and potentially impacted communities are meaningfully engaged in offshore wind siting decisions, but we can also work to make sure that all communities fully understand the opportunities and benefits that are possible from offshore wind energy.
Stay Connected
Get the latest conservation stories, energy updates and opportunities near you.
Offshore Wind Webinar Series
Offshore wind is a complicated topic. We know it can be a critically important energy resource in our efforts to mitigate climate change, but it also evokes a lot of questions. In 2024, The Nature Conservancy launched a monthly seven-part webinar series to convene experts who can help us answer some of the most challenging questions we have about offshore wind and explore how it can help us create a cleaner, greener and more prosperous future. You can watch the recordings of these webinars here.
Webinar Recordings
A Windfall: Can offshore wind save money and the planet
Join us for a discussion hosted by Tricia Jedele, Offshore Wind Policy Manager for The Nature Conservancy. She will be in conversation with Melissa Whited, and Susan Muller about the results of their recent analyses on why offshore wind is so important in New England.
(00:58:56)
Mapping the Course: Navigating Offshore Wind Siting
Host Tricia K. Jedele, Offshore Wind Policy Manager of The Nature Conservancy, invites you to join us for a conversation about the federal siting process for offshore wind.
(00:57:21)
Whales and Offshore Wind: Addressing Myths and Facts
Host Tricia K. Jedele, Offshore Wind Policy Manager of The Nature Conservancy, invites you to join us to learn from Dr. Douglas Nowacek at Duke University’s Marine Lab about how whales use sound in the ocean and how they respond to a number of different pressures in the ocean, including noise.
(1:01:02)
Offshore Wind & Birds
Host Tricia K. Jedele, Offshore Wind Policy Manager of The Nature Conservancy, invites you to join us for a conversation about birds, climate change and offshore wind.
(1:00:21)
Understanding Interactions Between Fish & Offshore Wind
Join Dr. Brendan Runde, a TNC marine scientist, and Dr. Annie Murphy, a Principal Scientist at INSPIRE Environmental, to hear about the research they’ve been doing to understand more about how fish respond to offshore wind construction and adapt to new structures in the marine environment.
(00:59:21)
The Role of Data, Spatial Tools and Policy
Host Christopher McGuire, ocean program director for TNC in Massachusetts, Tricia K. Jedele, Esq., offshore wind policy manager at TNC, and Dr. Marta Ribera, spatial ecologist for North America Science at TNC talk about how they're using data, spatial tools and policy to benefit biodiversity.
(00:57:17)
Sharing the Social Value of Offshore Wind
Tune in to hear from Lindsay Dougan, senior community investment manager at SSE Renewables, and Mark James, associate professor and interim director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law and Graduate School as they talk about community benefits agreements and offshore wind.
(00:58:01)
More on Offshore Wind
Wind Power: A Window into Delaware’s Clean, Bright Future
Offshore wind offers an opportunity to bring about an era of 100% renewable energy and a greener, cleaner and more prosperous future.
Marine Mapping Tool
Learn how TNC’s Marine Mapping Tool can help inform conservation and mitigation actions for Atlantic Ocean species and habitats.
New Study Uses Electronic Tags to Explore Relationship Between Fish Behavior and Offshore Wind Energy Construction
This first study of its kind, results will fill knowledge gaps to better inform fisheries and wind energy construction practices in the Atlantic Ocean