The US is set to break ground on its largest seaward wind operation yet in a move that some say will pave the room in bring a long - omit source of renewable Energy Department to America ’s power gridiron . Massachusetts and Rhode Island were both awarded major declaration add up 1.2 gigawatts , which is expected to allow clean energy for 600,000 homes and offer more than 3,600 occupation over 10 years .
The country ’s first major seaward wind farm will be located about 22 kilometre ( 14 miles ) offshore in Massachusetts . The newVineyard Windfarm will have a electrical capacity of 800 megawatt – roughly enough energy to powerhalf a millionhomes – and is due to start broadcast electrical energy to the grid as ahead of time as 2021 . It helps the state get midway to its goal of make 1.6 gigawatts of seaward hint vim content by 2027 and " will melt off Massachusetts ’ carbon discharge by over 1.6 million tons per year , the combining weight of polish off 325,000 auto from land roadstead , " said the company in astatement . Next door , a 400 - megawatt wind undertaking was award to Rhode Island .
It present an industry that is quick to amplify . Earlier this year , theBureau of Ocean Energy Managementannounced plans to release more than 380,000 acres of federally - controlled seaward waters in Massachusetts to be rent for wind energy development .
“ We see this not just as a project but as the beginning of an industry , ” Lars Thaaning Pedersen , the chief executive of Vineyard Wind , told theNew York Times .
seaward wind farms have become mainstream inEurope . Throughout 2017 , more than 3,000 megawatts of newly install offshore capacity came online . At the beginning of this twelvemonth , 15,780 megawatt were sire by 4,149 grid - connect wind turbines operating at 92 disjoined offshore breaking wind farms in 11 country . Around75,000 jobshave been created since the manufacture blast .
The US ? Not so much . The entire country ’s offshore wind capacity is just 30 megawatt . After years ofdelays and off-key starts , it appear the US is gaining priming coat . According to theDepartment of Energy , 28 labor totaling apotentialinstalled capacity of 23,735 megawatt are now in the work ; BOEM issued13 leasesto winding company off the East Coast alone . Other undertaking in the Great Lakes , the West Coast , and Hawaii are also in the works .
With the Department of Energysayingits goal is to move to 22,000 megawatts by 2030 – which could imply 80,000 American job – it ’s secure to say this could be a expectant move in America ’s biz of energy chess .
