America's first offshore wind farm has begun generating clean energy. 5 turbines with a capacity of 30 MW that will produce enough energy to power 17,000 homes
On 12 December, America's first offshore wind farm made its debut — the Rhode Island Block Island, in the Atlantic Ocean. Until now, all wind energy in the United States had been produced on land.
The wind farm built off the coast of Rhode Island was developed by Deepwater Wind and involved the construction of five 30-megawatt turbines, manufactured in France and transported to the site. The installation will generate enough energy to power 17,000 homes.
The island state "is proud to be home to the nation's first offshore wind farm. And I'm proud to be the only governor in America who can say that we have put steel in the water and spinning blades on the ocean," said Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo. "As the Ocean State, we are driven by our shared belief that we need to produce and consume cleaner, more sustainable energy and leave our children a healthier planet."
Following the commissioning and testing phases, at the start of the month the installation began producing enough electricity for the entire island, with the surplus energy also feeding into the New England grid to which the installation is connected via a new National Grid sea2shore submarine transmission cable system.
Two years of work completed on time and on budget, with more than 300 local workers employed. A major opportunity for the local community and one that gives fresh impetus to the island's industry, which has seized this chance to grow, as the Governor herself noted: "this is also a great economic opportunity. With this project, we have put hundreds of our workers to work at sea and in our ports, and they are growing an innovative industry."
Deepwater Wind has several projects at various stages of development that are set to be built across America. A 90-megawatt offshore wind project is due to come to Long Island, New York, while another 120-megawatt project could supply clean energy to residents of Maryland. These projects could be operational by 2022, provided the new administration continues Obama's work and the National Offshore Wind Strategy, under which the US has planned to install 86 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2050 and reduce CO2 emissions by 1.8 per cent.