Forming Joint Ventures to Construct U.S. Offshore Wind Farms

This article originally appeared in Renewable Energy World. Reprinted with permission. Any opinions in this article are not those of Winston & Strawn or its clients; the opinions in this article are the author's opinions only.

The U.S. Jones Act affects the construction of U.S. offshore wind farms by limiting certain activities in U.S. waters to U.S.-registered vessels owned and operated by qualified U.S. citizens. Much of the expertise in the construction of offshore wind farms is European based. The logical mechanisms for marrying European expertise with U.S. firms qualified to operate where the U.S. Jones Act applies are joint ventures. Such joint ventures must take into account the stringent U.S. citizenship requirements applicable to the ownership and operation of Jones Act vessels.

The Jones Act is actually several U.S. laws tracing their origin to 1789 that limit the transportation of “merchandise” (which includes most everything unless there is an exception) and “passengers” between two “points in the United States.” Such “points” include any device, such as a well head or tower, “permanently or temporarily attached” to the U.S. outer continental shelf.  Other laws also restrict “dredging” and “towing” when conducted in U.S. waters.

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