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ENTER THE
USA
It's taken some time, but the US have finally entered the offshore wind market. Will they supercede Europe?
It’s certainly been a long time coming and there’s a hell of a lot of catching up to do, but the US have finally dipped their tentative toes in the offshore wind market. How successful it’s likely to be is anyone’s guess at such an early stage, but many an eager eye will be watching how this super power fairs in a relatively unfamiliar market.
With Europe having taken the long-term view of clean energy, with Denmark putting up its first wind turbine offshore 24 years ago, in 1991 and at least 70 complete wind farms and 2,300 turbines across European waters, The United States is just getting started on catching up to its transatlantic neighbours. By July, the US will have its first offshore wind farm off of Rhode Island. If all goes according to plan, the 30 megawatt, 5 turbine Block Island wind farm will begin generating power by the end of 2016.
Why has it taken them so long exactly? Up until now, funding has only been provided for research, putting off businesses willing to take the plunge into entry; whilst the U.S. onshore wind industry is growing faster than any other electricity source, benefiting from over a century of government subsidies.
With the other proposed U.S wind farm Cape Wind being scuppered, all attention has turned to Block Island which has the potential to generate more than 4,000,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity along the coasts of the United States and the Great Lakes. Offshore wind resources are abundant, stronger, and blow more consistently than land-
based wind resources, representing a substantial opportunity to generate electricity near coastal populations. Watch this space!
More than 70% of the USA's electricity consumption occurs in the 28 coastal states - where the vast majority of Americans live
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