Historically, most wind power has been built on land. But we're increasingly seeing turbines be built offshore, in the ocean. There are a few reasons you might want to build a wind turbine offshore. For one, winds over the ocean typically blow faster, and steadier, than winds over the land. And while wind over land often blows most strongly at night (when it’s needed the least), offshore winds often blow most strongly in the afternoon and early evening, when it’s needed the most. Together, this means that offshore wind turbines operate at
Coastal jurisdiction can be very complicated. Our town had a dead whale on its beach. The town couldn't touch it. The county couldn't touch it. The state couldn't touch it. The Coast Guard couldn't touch it. The federal government couldn't touch it. Luckily, one of the local tribes was still allowed, by a treaty recently reinforced by a court decision, to hunt whales, and they agreed to move it.
Offshore wind power has a lot of possibility in the US, especially along the eastern coast, an area with a demand for a lot of power. To be honest, I'm glad to see the Jones Act pushing the US to build the appropriate support vessels. That's the kind of thing that the act was set up to do.
The construction and maintenance issues are perhaps less severe for floating wind turbines than for fixed offshore turbines. Floating turbines can be assembled at a nearby port, and towed back there for servicing, provided they are not too big for the local port. Jobs!
There might be a de-facto economic upper limit on floating wind turbine size for this reason. A possible side benefit is that making and installing more of smaller turbines might move them down the learning curve more quickly.
The other issues, permitting and NIMBYism, I have no idea about.
Coastal jurisdiction can be very complicated. Our town had a dead whale on its beach. The town couldn't touch it. The county couldn't touch it. The state couldn't touch it. The Coast Guard couldn't touch it. The federal government couldn't touch it. Luckily, one of the local tribes was still allowed, by a treaty recently reinforced by a court decision, to hunt whales, and they agreed to move it.
Offshore wind power has a lot of possibility in the US, especially along the eastern coast, an area with a demand for a lot of power. To be honest, I'm glad to see the Jones Act pushing the US to build the appropriate support vessels. That's the kind of thing that the act was set up to do.
There is a very interesting different design from T-Omega. I'd like to hear your comments on it.
https://newatlas.com/energy/t-omega-floating-wind/
Bureaucracies have a tendency to overcorrect. You don't want this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34
But, analysis paralysis is often worse.
The construction and maintenance issues are perhaps less severe for floating wind turbines than for fixed offshore turbines. Floating turbines can be assembled at a nearby port, and towed back there for servicing, provided they are not too big for the local port. Jobs!
There might be a de-facto economic upper limit on floating wind turbine size for this reason. A possible side benefit is that making and installing more of smaller turbines might move them down the learning curve more quickly.
The other issues, permitting and NIMBYism, I have no idea about.