Ever-bigger turbines and floating platforms are helping to accelerate the growth of offshore wind power development in Europe, where immediate prospects remain strong, especially in the United Kingdom.
Three offshore wind developers have submitted bids to Connecticut as the state becomes the latest to look to that renewable power source in the energy-constrained New England corridor.
Oregon’s loss could turn into California’s gain as Principle Power Inc., the lead on a stalled Oregon offshore wind project, has entered into an agreement with a wholesale power company to install a 150-MW public-private project off the Humboldt County coastline in Northern California.
Construction is underway off the northern coast of the U.K. for Ørsted’s planned 1.2-gigawatt wind farm, with 174 8-MW turbines expected to be planted and operational by 2021 in a field about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from shore.
Changing energy markets have led the Maine Public Utility Commission to delay approval of a power agreement for the nation’s first offshore floating wind venture, dealing a blow to the project set to begin construction this year.
To expand offshore wind in Europe and reduce the cost of connecting turbines farther out to sea by cable as coastal locations fill up, TenneT, a major European transmission grid operator, is studying the feasibility of building a $1.8-billion man-made wind-farm island in the North Sea between the U.K. and Denmark—and maybe others.
Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo) put two engineer-procure-construct packages out for bid in June for an onshore substation and submarine cable and installation for its planned
18-MW lake-based wind project in Cleveland.
