The U.S. offshore wind industry shows strong potential, especially in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region and California, but it still has a long way to go. Although the U.S. leads the world in land-based wind power generation, the first offshore turbine is yet to come on line. But after years of planning, the sector is poised to take off. A 30-MW Block Island, R.I., facility is set to go into operation by year-end, and 20 other projects are now in development. Of the 180 attendees at the three-day 2016 Offshore Wind Market Development Conference, held in Boston on May 10-12, more than half were from Europe. They came to share tips on how to develop profit-able, utility-scale projects for the U.S. offshore wind industry, learn about potential opportunities in the U.S. market, and understand what regulators and policymakers are thinking. Since 1991, developers have installed more than 800 turbines that connect to grids serving nine European countries.
展开▼
