America's First Offshore Wind Farm

Posted by: ChristinaC // Marketing Student

America's first offshore wind farm began generating energy off the coast of Rhode Island last month. This wind farm is called the Block Island wind farm, and was created by the Deepwater Wind company. These turbines will deliver electricity to the nearby community of Block Island, a vacation destination in RI that had previously relied on diesel-fueled generators for power. This is an exciting first for the Ocean State and the United States, as all other previously generated wind power has been on land.

The five turbines may seem small, but the wind farm has the ability to power almost 17,000 homes! Deepwater Wind company states that roughly 90 percent of the island's needs will be met by this new source of renewable energy, and that more will go back to the grid. With the success of this first offshore wind farm, there is potential for the creation of more offshore wind farms around the nation.

The Department of Energy has stated that if wind farms were built in all of the suitable areas, including the Great Lakes, they could provide up to twice as much electricity as the country now uses. This would completely change the future for renewable energy in the United States, and might encourage other countries to do the same. In Europe, thousands of wind turbines have been built along the coast, and they are a great example of the benefits of using wind power.

One of the battles that wind farms face in the U.S. is the opposition of the public. Many disagree with them due to their high costs, rules of who gets to build, and obstruction of ocean view. The biggest complaint has come from homeowners on the coast who don't want large wind turbines ruining their view, but when considering the future benefits of wind power and seeing the success of the Block Island Wind Farm, it is hard to argue with building more wind farms along the coastline.


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