“When we look at global trends and where our big energy companies, including our traditional oil and gas companies, where they’re headed and what they’re looking for, they’re looking for cleaner and greener energy sources,” McManus said. “They’re looking for that connection, so the opportunity to offer that right now, today, when we know that they’re going to be demanding it tomorrow, is something that if we want to be proactive here in southeast Louisiana, we really need to take hold of and really be considerate about.”

The goal of the project is to place wind turbines in the Gulf along with other infrastructure in both the ocean and inland to meet future green energy demand.

The group says this will create jobs while also preserving the jobs of those working in traditional energy.

GNO INC. says it has partnered with multiple oil and gas providers on the project.

“When we look at our labor base, for example, we have a labor base that have services oil and gas platforms for generations,” McManus said. “There is an opportunity to take that same labor base and figure out how to transition that to wind and just add on additional business for those same companies that have been servicing offshore oil and gas for generations.”

Not all of the infrastructure will be out in the Gulf. Some of the infrastructure will be on the campus of the University of New Orleans.

The Advance Technology Center on UNO’s campus will house The Nexus Center which will allow space for companies, faculty, and students to brainstorm ideas on how to capitalize on projects for the region.

“I picture companies who are looking at turning this offshore wind into an opportunity to build a new generation of fuels to power industry, to power certainly our communities; it’s really a game-changing opportunity,” Shafin Khan, the Vice President of External Affairs and Innovation at UNO, said.

Khan said being a part of this initiative was something the university couldn’t pass up.

“We see the opportunity; we see the growth here. Certainly, offshore wind is a really nascent industry here in the U.S.,” Khan said. “There is one wind farm in the entire federal waters in the U.S. right now, with a couple of new leases that have been given out in the northeast as well as in California, but this is projected to be a $25 billion industry by 2030.”

A total of eight Louisiana companies helped build out the plan, including multiple UNO graduates.

Another big part of the project will be creating programs in high education to train younger people on how to enter the green energy workforce.

“We know that the companies that will be coming in and the companies that will be coming in and evolving are going to need certain assets across Louisiana, and we’re going to need to bring those assets to the table if we’re going to have a holistic benefit,” McManus said.

The project has a jump start with $50 million in funding from the federal government and $25 million from the State of Louisiana.

The expectation is that the first lease for turbines will be approved for the Gulf by summer 2023.

The infrastructure would then be built within the next 10 years.

Louisiana is also partnering with Arkansas and Oklahoma to make joint bids for billions of dollars in federal grants to help with green energy projects.The Nexus