The first US commercial-scale offshore wind farm is live, but the industry faces strong headwinds
by Justine Calma from The Verge - All Posts on (#6HKG9)
A GE Haliade-X turbine stands in the Vineyard Wind 1 project area south of Martha's Vineyard. | Image: Worldview Films The first week of 2024 has already been a rollercoaster of good and bad news for President Joe Biden's offshore wind ambitions.
The nation's first large-scale wind farm just started producing power for the New England power grid. The bad news is that another major project on the East Coast threw in the towel, the latest casualty of skyrocketing costs that are pushing Biden's offshore wind dreams out of reach.
The plan, according to the Biden administration, was for the US to get 30,000MW of energy from offshore wind by 2030. The US lags far behind Europe and China in offshore wind development, which it will need a lot more of to hit clean energy goals tied to the Paris climate accord. Since stepping into office, Biden has rolled out the...