San Luis or Long Beach port as support for offshore windmills?

May 10, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

While some local and state agencies are in favor of transforming Port San Luis in rural Avila Beach into an industrial port to support offshore wind energy farms, the federal government and the Port of Long Beach have other plans.

Last year, the federal government auctioned off three offshore wind energy sites located between 20 and 30 miles off the coast near Morro Bay. The massive windmills, which stand about 1,000 feet above the water, will sit on floating platforms the size of baseball fields.

While the components will be manufactured out of area, multiple agencies are working to identify the best ports to assemble the parts, after which the windmills will be towed out to sea. Dock sizes at the proposed ports range from 30 and 400 acres.

Two agencies, Reach Central Coast and the California State Lands Commission, released reports in the past six months identifying Port San Luis as the best option. If selected, the port would be transformed into an industrial port with a large wharf for assembly and maintenance.

There is also talk of utilizing the former Old Port Inn building as office space for industrial workers.

In contrast, the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Dec. 2022 report says Port San Luis is not a good candidate. The report identifies three good candidates for assembly sites: Port of Humboldt, Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles.

The Port of Long Beach released a plan on April 20, proposing that it becomes a primary port for assembling off-shore windmills. At an estimated cost of $4.7 billion, the project would “involve creating
up to 400 acres of new land for a terminal to stage, store and construct” the windmills.

In the report, the Port of Long Beach says it is the ideal location because it is surrounded by industry, it is adjacent to a deep and wide channel, it is near the state’s manufacturing base and construction workforce, and it is at “the center of the nation’s supply chain with connections to robust water, rail and roadway networks.”

Locally, residents have voiced concerns that transforming Port San Luis into an industrial port could harm the community’s coastal way of life and negatively impact the tourism industry.

“Port San Luis in Avila Bay is not appropriate for a staging and integration site to support offshore wind farms,” said Avila Beach resident Saro Rizzo. “Doing so would create both environmental and economic havoc on many levels to what is considered one of the best small remaining beach towns in California.”