U.S. OFFSHORE WIND EMERGES

The U.S. dips a toe in the offshore windfarm water

Aaron Heinrich, October 15, 2015 (GizMag)

“Offshore wind farms have been creating electricity off the coast of [Europe] since 1991…[but] until recently there were no [U.S.] offshore wind farms…[but last summer the] 30 megawatt, 5 turbine Block Island Wind Farm project [started construction] in Rhode Island…[It is] scheduled to go online next year, producing enough electricity to power 17,000 homes…US projects [are] currently in various stages of proposal, review, and approval, mostly off the East Coast, and [a few off the California and Hawaii coasts]…The reasons for the lag by the US…can roughly be attributed to the high cost of construction, changing regulations, and personal lobbying…[but the] National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates a gross wind potential of 4,223 gigawatts (GW) off the coast of the United States alone – roughly four times the generating capacity of the entire US electric grid…Many industry experts and government officials say that the potential for increased energy production inherent in offshore wind farms would offset those costs. This argument, which appears to have held up in other parts of the world, is about to be tested in the US…” click here for more

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