The United States is officially generating electricity through offshore wind for the first time ever.
What’s happening:
- The first ever offshore wind farm in the United States has officially launched in New York
- The new wind farm project is a collaboration between Denmark based energy developer Ørsted and United States based electricity company Eversource (NYSE: ES)
By the numbers:
- The new wind farm is located 35 miles to the east of Montauk Point in New York and consists of 12 wind turbines
- The United States government has approved 6 other commercial scale offshore wind farms to be constructed in American waters
Why it matters:
- Generating power to the grid from offshore wind has been one of the most ambitious ventures in climate tech and the launch of the first ever offshore wind farm in the United States represents critical validation that offshore wind can play a meaningful role in decarbonization
Going deeper:
- Ørsted has made major breakthroughs in the technology of offshore wind projects to make it possible for offshore wind to generate electricity at a cheaper cost per gigawatt than newly constructed fossil fuel power generation facilities
