US Offshore Wind Energy Poised to Pop

US Offshore Wind Energy Poised to Pop

By the end of this year, the five turbines of the Block Island wind project will begin converting wind into power. The project is the first offshore wind farm to be operating in US waters, and more are going to follow.

A dozen offshore wind installations are in the works for the East Coast region, reports Fortune. Several factors are driving this energy-sourcing shift. Although offshore wind farms are expensive to install, the price of wind energy has dropped significantly over the last few years, making wind energy cost-competitive with traditional power. And offshore installations make sense for East Coast states with little open space, large urban populations, and aging nuclear plants that are going offline at a time when demand for electricity continues to rise.

Public policy is also playing a part. Massachusetts has passed a law requiring that state’s utilities to buy one point six gigawatts of energy from offshore wind farms over the next ten years.

I’m John Howell for 3BL Media.