US Offshore Wind Potential-4,000GW Clean Domestic Power-VIDEO

The United States is just beginning to develop offshore wind and there is significant resistance to US offshore wind farms by many people. At the same time, the UK has more installed offshore wind generating capacity than the rest of the world combined.

We have a map on this site that shows the US offshore wind projects that the Energy Department is developing.

Maine Project Launches First Grid-Connected U.S. Offshore Wind Turbine

Elizabeth Viselli, offshore wind programs manager at the University of Maine, told Windpower Offshore that this first floating offshore wind turbine should become grid connected on June 4th or June 5th. The weather conditions in the Gulf of Maine have been too windy for engineers to go out to sea any sooner. This turbine is a 20kW prototype that is mounted on a floating platform. It is being tested in various locations in the Gulf of Maine.

US offshore wind represents a large, untapped energy resource for our country, offering over 4,000 gigawatts of clean, domestic energy potential-four times the nation’s current total electricity generation capacity.

Screenview from the video | US offshore wind

The Energy Department recognized the nation’s first grid-connected offshore floating wind turbine prototype off the coast of Castine, Maine on May 31, 2013, reports Navigant. Led by the University of Maine, this project represents the first concrete-composite floating platform wind turbine to be deployed in the world – strengthening American leadership in innovative clean energy technologies that diversify the nation’s energy mix with more clean, domestic energy sources.

UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center unveils VolturnUS deepwater floating US offshore wind technology.

Developing America’s vast renewable energy resources is an important part of the Energy Department’s all-of-the-above strategy to pave the way to a cleaner and more diverse domestic energy portfolio.

The Castine offshore wind project represents a critical investment to ensure America leads in this fast-growing global industry, helping to bring tremendous untapped energy resources to market and create new jobs across the country. –Jose Zayas, director of the Energy Department’s Wind and Water Power Technologies Office.

According to a recent report commissioned by the Energy Department, a U.S. offshore wind industry that takes advantage of this abundant domestic resource could support up to 200,000 manufacturing, construction, operation and supply chain jobs across the country and drive over $70 billion in annual investments by 2030.

In Maine, as with many other areas off U.S. coasts, the bulk of this clean, renewable energy resource lies in deeper waters where conventional turbine technology is not practical. Innovative floating offshore wind turbines, like the one launched today, will open up new economic and energy opportunities for the country.

With the support of a $12 million Energy Department investment over five years, University of Maine and its project partners conducted extensive design, engineering and testing of floating offshore wind turbines, followed by the construction and deployment of its 65-foot-tall VolturnUS prototype. At 1:8th the scale of a commercial installation, this project will collect data to validate and improve floating wind turbine designs, while helping to address technical barriers to greater offshore wind cost reductions.

As part of a separate project, the University of Maine is planning a larger US offshore wind demonstration called Aqua Ventus I – one of seven offshore wind design and engineering projects announced last year by the Energy Department. Upon completion of the engineering and design phase, the Department intends to select up to three projects for additional funding in 2014 to support construction and installation.

Find more information on the Energy Department’s broader efforts to grow America’s wind energy industry and US offshore wind at wind.energy.gov.

By Amber Archangel

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