Europe has been ahead of the US in regards to utilising offshore wind power but that could be about to change. As has often been said, the potential for developing offshore wind power in domestic waters is huge—around 4,200 gigawatts (a gigawatt is equivalent, very roughly, to the capacity of a large coal-fired power plant). The US is ready to switch on its first offshore wind farm; a set of turbines off Rhode Island, that signals their embrace of renewable energy sources. In fact, according to Reuters, the United States will soon have more than 100 such projects up and running, with another 50 or so under construction. This is a welcome bit of news after a year of slow progress and hesitant or false starts. Furthermore, the company behind this technology, Deepwater Wind has plans beyond this first set of wind turbines that include an offshore project for Long Island as well as the expansion of the Rhode Island; installing more than 200 turbines to deliver 1,000 megawatts of capacity.
Europe has been ahead of the US in regards to utilising offshore wind power but that could be about to change. The US is ready to switch on its first offshore wind farm; a set of turbines off Rhode Island, that signals their embrace of renewable energy sources. In fact, according to Reuters, the United States will soon have more than 100 such projects up and running, with another 50 or so under construction. This is a welcome bit of news after a year of slow progress and hesitant or false starts. Furthermore, the company behind this technology, Deepwater Wind has plans beyond this first set of wind turbines that include an offshore project for Long Island as well as the expansion of the Rhode Island; installing more than 200 turbines to deliver 1,000 megawatts of capacity.