"For more than 100 years, the Chevron refinery has operated off the San Francisco Bay in Richmond. Now, city officials are looking to evolve their city's business footprint toward greener power. They're not alone. Opened in 1902, the refinery has led some to make concerted efforts to distance the city of more than 100,000 people from the fossil fuel industry, most recently through a short-lived ballot measure supported by activists who said funds would be needed to help envision a Richmond without a refinery."
"The off-shore wind industry has risen as a potential option, with the city being awarded a $750,000 grant from the California Energy Commission in December to help with drafting an Offshore Wind Conceptual Planning Project. This planning effort represents a critical first step toward positioning the Port of Richmond as a potential host for future offshore-wind activities an industry expected to generate thousands of high-quality jobs and substantial economic benefits, read a staff report detailing the project."
"Like Richmond, ports in Humboldt, Oakland, Benicia, Stockton, San Francisco and Redwood City, as well as private terminals in Antioch and Pittsburg, have also been identified in a study by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as potential offshore wind manufacturing and fabrication sites. Companies like Viridi Parente, a bicoastal battery energy storage system manufacturer that opened in Richmond this past summer, have also been welcomed with open arms."
Richmond's Chevron refinery has operated off San Francisco Bay since 1902, prompting efforts to shift the city's economy toward cleaner energy. A $550 million, 10-year settlement between the city and the refinery led activists to withdraw a ballot measure aimed at reimagining a refinery-free Richmond. The city secured a $750,000 California Energy Commission grant to draft an Offshore Wind Conceptual Planning Project to position the Port of Richmond for future offshore-wind activities expected to generate high-quality jobs. Federal BOEM studies identified multiple Bay Area ports as potential manufacturing sites. Battery-energy firm Viridi Parente opened with a $9.3 million CEC grant.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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