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In this week\u2019s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Matt Shields, a senior offshore wind analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Among other research projects, the lab conducts offshore wind techno-economic analysis, which involves developing cost models, analyzing market and technology trends, and projecting the future costs of offshore wind. Shields is the lead author of a new study that explores the demand for a domestic offshore wind energy supply chain following the Biden administration\u2019s March 2021 goal to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind in the United States by 2030. \n\nShields and Hayes discuss some challenges to achieving the 2030 goal\u2014including constraints on the number of turbine installation vessels and ports\u2014along with the potential employment impacts of building a domestic supply chain for offshore wind, and how best to synchronize the design of turbines, installation vessels, and ports along the supply chain.\n\nReferences and recommendations:\n\n\u201cSupply Chain Road Map for Offshore Wind Energy\u201d by Matt Shields, Ruth Marsh, Jeremy Stefek, Frank Oteri, Ross Gould, No\xe9 Rouxel, Katherine Diaz, Javier Molinero, Abigayle Moser, Courtney Malvik, and Sam Tirone; https://www.nrel.gov/wind/offshore-supply-chain-road-map.html\n\n\u201cOffshore Wind Market Report: 2021 Edition\u201d by Walter Musial, Paul Spitsen, Philipp Beiter, Patrick Duffy, Melinda Marquis, Abryn Cooperman, Rob Hammond, and Matt Shields; https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/articles/offshore-wind-market-report-2021-edition-released\n\n\u201cSupply Chain Contracting Forecast for U.S. Offshore Wind Power\u2014The Updated and Expanded 2021 Edition\u201d by the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind; https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.udel.edu/dist/e/10028/files/2021/10/SIOW-supply-chain-report-2021-update-FINAL-1.pdf\n\n\u201cOffshore Wind Insider\u201d podcast; https://www.offshorewindus.org/oswinsider/\n\n\u201cThe Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable\u201d by Nassim Nicholas Taleb; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/176226/the-black-swan-second-edition-by-nassim-nicholas-taleb/