Economic Impact from Large-Scale Deployment of Offshore Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology in Oregon

To better understand the potential economic impacts of large-scale wave energy converter (WEC) technology deployment, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted an analysis of the economic impact of large-scale WEC facility deployment on Oregon using the Jobs and Economic Development Impact marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) tool. The analysis examined two deployment scenarios in the 2026-2045 timeframe envisioning 13,000 megawatts (MW) and 18,000 MW, respectively, of WEC facility installations off the coast of Oregon. According to this analysis, deployment of 13,000 MW of WEC installations in Oregon and assuming a modest in-state supply chain would: Generate employment totaling over 88,000 full-time-equivalent jobs within the State of Oregon during the analysis period;Support 6,800 permanent operations period jobs in the years following the analysis period; Support $14.0 billion in economic activity for Oregon during the analysis period; Support $1.0 billion in annual economic activity after the analysis period. One key finding from this work is the sensitivity of the results to the magnitude of the in-state supply chain. Establishing an in-state supply chain that can capture even a modest portion of WEC installations will dramatically increase the economic impact of large-scale WEC deployment.