While many politicians in the USA are focused on the topic of offshore drilling for oil in the lead up to the next election; a far better and more environmentally friendly option has emerged for offshore energy related activities – installing wind turbines.
Delaware may be the first state to implement a wind farm off its coast with a project scheduled to be completed in 2012.
The wind farm would consist of between 60 and 200 wind turbines spaced about a half mile apart, generating up to 600 megawatts. Each turbine, having a blade length of around 45 meters, would be mounted on a pole a submerged around 30 meters below the seabed. The turbines would reach up about 130 meters above sea level at their highest point.
Bluewater Wind, the company heading the project, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Delaware Electric Municipal Corporation for the sale of approximately 100,000 to 150,000 megawatt hours of power and 17 megawatts of capacity to its nine municipal members.
Wind energy currently only accounts for 1 percent of the USA’s electricity, but a report released earlier this year by the US Energy Department stated wind power could generate 20 percent of the nation’s needs by 2030.
With the rising awareness of climate change and the looming spectre of peak oil, many opponents to wind farms are now reconsidering their views; making it easier for wind energy companies in the USA to start making solid headway in constructing wind farms.
