The importance of deep-sea wind power projects as a source of renewable energy is constantly increasing. The United States also wants to secure a leading position in this sector. In this regard, they are taking up all the ambitious offshore projects; and are investing large sums of money. The biggest progress in implementing the US plan was made on Thursday. Construction of the country’s largest commercial offshore wind farm began on that day.
The project is located about 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard Island, Massachusetts. The wind farm will generate 806 MW of electricity, which will supply electricity to more than 4 lac homes and businesses. The firm plans to start generating electricity on a commercial basis in 2023.
The project will be managed by Vineyard Wind, owned by the Spanish multinational electricity service company Iberdrola. The company said the project would employ about 3,600 people.
Evidence of how much the United States is pushing for deep-sea wind power projects can be seen in the differences in capacity between Vineyard One and Rhode Island, the current largest wind farm in the United States. The first commercial wind power project in the United States has a generating capacity of 30 MW. In other words, Vineyard One will produce 25 times more electricity than Block Island.
On July 15 of this year, Vineyard One’s project plan was approved by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) of the US Department of the Interior. In the first phase of construction, two supply lines will be laid from the mainland to the project. These two submarine cables will carry electricity from the project substation to the landing point at Covell’s Beach. Work on the deep-sea turbine foundation and cable connection is set to begin next year. The project will use 62 Haliade-X turbines made by General Electric, each with a generating capacity of 13 MW.
Iberdrola plans to invest more than 3.5 thousand crore dollars in deep-sea wind power projects in the United States between 2020 and 2025. Of this, they will invest 1.5 thousand crore dollars in New England and North Carolina / Virginia offshore projects.
