U.S. OCEAN WIND COMING IN

A turning point for offshore wind energy? America's first offshore wind turbine powers five homes. Could it mark the start of offshore wind power in the U.S.?

Ruth Graham, November 18, 2013 (AlJazeera)

"Cape Wind is probably the most famous wind farm in the United States, which is especially telling because it doesn't exist. Its planned 130 turbines in Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound have been controversial…since developers announced it in 2001…Meanwhile, this summer, two tugboats quietly hauled the first working offshore-wind turbine in the United States into place off the coast of Maine. Designed by the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine, the [VolturnUS,] turbine is 65 feet high and…[is] a one-eighth-scale prototype…Offshore projects are more expensive to develop than their land-based counterparts, but they have more power potential…The prototype may be small, but it's doing much of the heavy lifting needed to advance this energy solution…” click here for more

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