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How many offshore wind farms are there in the US? I heard a radio story a while back about some homeowners in New England pushing back against a proposed wind f

How many offshore wind farms are there in the US? I heard a radio story a while back about some homeowners in New England pushing back against a proposed wind farm for aesthetic reasons -- not a surprising development but I must say I didn't consider it when thinking about proliferation of turbines.

notadog 7y ago
As of September 2019, the American Wind Energy Association claims there is only one. [1] > The U.S. currently has one operational offshore wind project with many more on the way. The nation’s first commercial offshore wind project, the Block Island Wind Farm, came online in December 2016. Developed by Deepwater Wind, the Block Island Wind Farm is a 30 megawatt (MW) project with five turbines located three miles off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. > According to the Department of Energy, the U.S. has a total project pipeline of 25,434 MW of offshore wind energy as of June 2018. This pipeline includes 3,892 MW of project-specific capacity and 21,542 MW of undeveloped lease area potential capacity. Out of this pipeline, project developers have announced that roughly 2,000 MW of new offshore wind capacity is expected to be operational by 2023. States including Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut have completed solicitations for nearly 1,770 MW of offshore wind energy, and additional soliciations are planned for the near future. > The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued twelve active commercial wind energy leases to date. Another four projects have submitted unsolicited lease applications to BOEM, while four demonstration projects have obtained exclusive development rights to a site from federal or state authorities. While a majority of the nearer-term activity is concentrated in the Atlantic off the Northeast coast, projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, in the Pacific off of California and Hawaii, and the Great Lakes. > With stable policies in place, the Department of Energy found the U.S. could develop a total of 22 GW of offshore wind projects by 2030 and 86 GW by 2050. As we continue to develop this homegrown resource, costs will continue to drop, value to consumers will grow, and the U.S. will see new jobs and investments in manufacturing and port infrastructure. [1] https://www.awea.org/Awea/media/About-AWEA/U-S-Offshore-Wind-Fact-Sheet-September-2018_2.pdf https://www.awea.org/Awea/media/About-AWEA/U-S-Offshore-Wind...
hannob 7y ago
> I heard a radio story a while back about some homeowners in New England pushing back against a proposed wind farm for aesthetic reasons That is practically a non-issue with offshore wind. (Yeah, sometimes you can see them from the cost, but really small usually because they're too far out.)
javagram 7y ago
Yes, unfortunately they were very successful in doing so. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Wind https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Wind Repealing environmental and permitting laws that allow powerful and wealthy beachfront property landowners to block wind installations is critical toward converting to a green economy.
- erentz 7y ago
  I was in Maine for 6 months and the takeaway I got was: environmentalists in ME/NH/VT don’t want wind power, don’t want a new power line that would bring clean Quebec hydro power, and they want to shut down the only clean generating nuclear plant in the area. So basically they don’t want electricity.

notadog 7y ago

As of September 2019, the American Wind Energy Association claims there is only one. [1] > The U.S. currently has one operational offshore wind project with many more on the way. The nation’s first commercial offshore wind project, the Block Island Wind Farm, came online in December 2016. Developed by Deepwater Wind, the Block Island Wind Farm is a 30 megawatt (MW) project with five turbines located three miles off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. > According to the Department of Energy, the U.S. has a total project pipeline of 25,434 MW of offshore wind energy as of June 2018. This pipeline includes 3,892 MW of project-specific capacity and 21,542 MW of undeveloped lease area potential capacity. Out of this pipeline, project developers have announced that roughly 2,000 MW of new offshore wind capacity is expected to be operational by 2023. States including Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut have completed solicitations for nearly 1,770 MW of offshore wind energy, and additional soliciations are planned for the near future. > The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued twelve active commercial wind energy leases to date. Another four projects have submitted unsolicited lease applications to BOEM, while four demonstration projects have obtained exclusive development rights to a site from federal or state authorities. While a majority of the nearer-term activity is concentrated in the Atlantic off the Northeast coast, projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, in the Pacific off of California and Hawaii, and the Great Lakes. > With stable policies in place, the Department of Energy found the U.S. could develop a total of 22 GW of offshore wind projects by 2030 and 86 GW by 2050. As we continue to develop this homegrown resource, costs will continue to drop, value to consumers will grow, and the U.S. will see new jobs and investments in manufacturing and port infrastructure. [1] https://www.awea.org/Awea/media/About-AWEA/U-S-Offshore-Wind-Fact-Sheet-September-2018_2.pdf https://www.awea.org/Awea/media/About-AWEA/U-S-Offshore-Wind...

hannob 7y ago

> I heard a radio story a while back about some homeowners in New England pushing back against a proposed wind farm for aesthetic reasons That is practically a non-issue with offshore wind. (Yeah, sometimes you can see them from the cost, but really small usually because they're too far out.)

javagram 7y ago

Yes, unfortunately they were very successful in doing so. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Wind https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Wind Repealing environmental and permitting laws that allow powerful and wealthy beachfront property landowners to block wind installations is critical toward converting to a green economy.

erentz 7y ago
I was in Maine for 6 months and the takeaway I got was: environmentalists in ME/NH/VT don’t want wind power, don’t want a new power line that would bring clean Quebec hydro power, and they want to shut down the only clean generating nuclear plant in the area. So basically they don’t want electricity.