The Biden administration on Monday issued an offshore wind lease to the state of Maine for a small project that will demonstrate floating turbine technology off the U.S. East Coast.
The lease area covers 9,700 acres (3,920 hectares) and is 28 nautical miles (52 kilometers) from shore, an area that could accommodate up to 12 floating offshore wind turbines that could generate about 144 megawatts of electricity.
Floating wind is widely acknowleded as the future of offshore wind, as it is able to tap stronger winds further from shore. It opens opportunities, too, for companies serving the offshore oil and gas sector, as many of the floater technologies developed for traditional oil and gas are applicable to floating wind, too.
Wind turbines that float on the ocean’s surface are an emerging technology necessary for projects off the coasts of California, Oregon and Maine, where the depth of the water precludes the use of standard, fixed equipment.
(Reuters + Staff)