The Biden administration has approved a colossal offshore wind farm project involving 84 turbines that will be erected off of the Massachusetts coast. Each turbine is rated at 9.5 MWatt of peak power, so the total output from the wind farm is expected to be almost 800 MWatt. That’s enough power to supply the needed electricity to 400,000 American homes and businesses while cutting down on burning coal, natural gas, and petroleum.
Renewable energy accounts for about 18.2% in the United States, so the leading economy is lagging behind other developed countries. Wind energy is notably holding the lion’s share when compared with other renewables, and this is no random occurrence. The wind generation potential in the country is estimated to be 10,459 GW, or 37 petawatt-hours annually. That’s enough to cover the total U.S. electricity consumption, so the government has set an aggressive target for it.
The Massachusetts farm is going to be fifth in capacity size, following that of the Alta Wind Energy Center, the Los Vientos wind farm, the Shepherds Flat wind farm, and the Meadow Lake wind farm. However, all of these are onshore farms, and the only offshore projects in the country pale in comparison with the one that’s about to be developed in Massachusetts.
The first energy-producing turbines are expected to be raised in 2024, while the construction is scheduled to begin within the next couple of months. As the head of the project stated, this is a watershed moment for the U.S. offshore wind industry, and already, there are similar projects in the pipeline totaling an output of 7,000 MWatts.
Until now, building such offshore farms was complicated due to the need for lease agreements for land that is government property, as well as various bureaucratic obstacles involving a number of regulatory authorities and agencies. As we see now, the Biden administration is willing to clear the way from hurdles and push forward for the realization of more projects of this kind.
