Offshore wind turbines at two commercial sites send power to the US grid.
Moments before midnight Tuesday, a single turbine near Martha’s Vineyard turned on Producing 5 megawatts of renewable energy The developers told the New England Network. The turbine is one of 62 planned at Vineyard Wind 1, an offshore site owned by utility company Avangrid and wind energy investor Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). The companies wanted to deliver offshore wind power through the site before the end of 2023; they Missed this goal In just a few days.
However, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey called it a “historic moment.” The farm will soon produce “energy equivalent to more than 400,000 Massachusetts households,” Healey said in a statement. Avangrid and CIP say the site will have five turbines by “early” this year, powering homes – and it should some Electric car batteries – otherwise A country dependent on natural gas.
The Vineyard Wind news comes about a month after another offshore site near Montauk Point, New York A similar hack was announced. The offshore wind project, called South Fork Wind, so far has two turbines, one of which is operational. The owners – Danish energy company Ørsted and utility company Eversource – say they will install 10 additional turbines in early 2024.
Offshore wind in the United States has taken some hits lately, though supports From the Biden administration, which has made offshore turbines a key part of its strategy Reducing climate pollution.
in October, Ørsted has mobilized two wind projects in New Jersey due to supply chain delays and high interest rates. Around the same time, Avangrid paid $16 million Cancel an agreement to sell power to Connecticut, although the project itself has not been cancelled. On Wednesday, fossil fuel giants BP and Equinor canceled their “Empire Wind 2” contract with New York — also over interest rates and supply chain issues. In short: Commercial-scale offshore wind projects take a long time to become operational. Projects planned before the pandemic look less feasible now than they did before, in terms of costs and rates.
Many startups aim to bring down the prices of wind energy. For example, SkySpecs uses drones and artificial intelligence to monitor wind turbines, predict equipment failures, and ultimately reduce turbine downtime. The Goldman Sachs-backed startup has raised $118 million to date, including an $80 million Series D in 2022.
Another startup built on wind energy is Aerones. The company makes robots that scrub and inspect turbine blades, to keep turbines running longer and reduce pollution caused by oil spills. Backed by Y Combinator, Aerones said Wednesday it had secured support A grant of approximately $4.8 million From the European Union Innovation Fund.
There’s also the power-assisted AirLoom, which aims to cut the cost of wind power in half by adopting an unconventional design; If you ask me, so It looks more like a contemporary art installation than a wind farm.