US launches program to expand offshore floating wind turbines
September 16, 2022 By Awanish Kumar
(Image Credit Google)
The Biden administration unveiled its most recent renewable energy initiatives on Thursday, this time focusing on a technology that is still in its infancy: floating offshore wind turbines. Large ocean areas are thought to be off-limits to the economic development of energy since floating turbines are projected to cost around 50% more than turbines that are directly moored to the bottom. The program unveiled today will establish a "wind shot" with the objective of reducing costs by more than 70% over the following ten years and elevating the US to the position of the industry leader.
Will it float?
Although offshore wind is thriving in Europe and China (and is about to make a delayed comeback in the US), the hardware that is now in use is constructed directly from the seafloor, necessitating sitting in shallow waters. This is advantageous for the US East Coast because there is ample room for large wind farms there, several of which are now applying for permits and planning their construction. Due to the US's protracted delay in embracing offshore wind, the sector has been transferred to the nations that invented the technology in the majority of those projects.
Many places with significant offshore wind potential in the US are too deep to be utilized by wind turbines attached to the ocean floor, according to a recently released map illustrating that potential. Nearly the entire West Coast, Hawaii, and the Great Lakes are included in this. Floating turbines might significantly increase the development-friendly zones even along the East Coast.
Between fixed and floating turbines, the Department of Energy calculates that there is a potential for more than four terawatts of wind power. That would be sufficient to cover the US's total yearly electricity consumption in around three months at offshore wind's typical production levels.
The costs are the issue. Fixed onshore wind farms still need to lower their costs before they can compete with natural gas in Europe, where they have only recently begun to match the cost of coal-powered electricity. The costs for floating wind are higher than those for nuclear power when the cost penalty of 50% is added. In addition to increasing the ability to install floating turbines, the new "wind shot" program aims to make them cost-competitive with natural gas. If it is effective, it might establish US businesses as industry leaders in floating wind generation.
By Awanish Kumar
I keep abreast of the latest technological developments to bring you unfiltered information about gadgets.