The US offshore wind industry is ready for take off!

Top 10 things you didn’t know about offshore wind energy.

Offshore Wind Resources Are Abundant:
Offshore wind has the potential to deliver large amounts of clean, renewable energy to fulfill the electrical needs of cities along U.S. coastlines. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that the technical resource potential for U.S. offshore wind is more than 2,000 gigawatts of capacity, or 7,200 terawatt-hours per year of generation.

Offshore Wind Turbines Can Be Extremely Tall:
In order to capture the abundant wind resources available offshore, offshore turbines can be scaled up to one-and-a-half-times the height of the Washington Monument, with blades the length of a football field.

In order to capture the abundant wind resources available offshore, offshore turbines can be scaled up

Offshore Wind Components Are Getting Larger: Offshore wind turbine components are transported by ships and barges, reducing some of the logistical challenges that land-based wind components encounter, such as narrow roadways or tunnels. These components enable offshore wind developers to build larger turbines capable of producing more electricity; however, working at sea presents its own challenges

Offshore wind turbine components are transported by ships and barges, reducing some of the logistical challenges that land-based wind components encounter, such as narrow roadways or tunnels.

The U.S. Offshore Wind Industry is Ready for Takeoff: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) works collaboratively with industry and academia to address research challenges that are unique to U.S. offshore wind (like hurricanes), and to understand and address market barriers such as environmental impacts, logistical challenges, siting and permitting, and infrastructure development. Finally, DOE is also working to demonstrate advanced technologies.

Electricity produced by offshore wind turbines travels back to land through a series of cable systems that are buried in the sea floor.

Offshore Wind Farms Use Undersea Cables to Transmit Electricity to the Grid: Electricity produced by offshore wind turbines travels back to land through a series of cable systems that are buried in the sea floor. This electricity is channeled through coastal load centers that prioritize where the electricity should go and distributes it into the electrical grid to power our homes, schools, and businesses.

The bulk of the nation’s offshore wind resources, about 60 percent, are in areas where the water is so deep that conventional foundations—large steel piles or lattice structures fixed to the seabed—are not practical.

The Majority of U.S. Offshore Wind Resources Are in Deep Waters: The bulk of the nation’s offshore wind resources, about 60 percent, are in areas where the water is so deep that conventional foundations—large steel piles or lattice structures fixed to the seabed—are not practical. U.S. offshore wind projects are developing a variety of different foundations suited to unique conditions at each site.

Illustration by Josh Bauer, NREL 49054

Offshore Wind Turbines Can Float: Several companies are developing innovative floating offshore wind platforms for use in deep waters. Three kinds of floating platforms are spar-buoy, tension leg platform, and semi-submersible. About 75% of projects plan to use semi-submersible platforms.