U.S. to build its first offshore wind power plant

According to the British "Guardian" report, the U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced that the country plans to lease an area of ​​approximately 432 square miles of offshore areas at the confluence of Rhodes, Massachusetts, and Virginia at preferential prices in the first half of next year. Construction of the country’s first offshore wind power plant.

The relevant person in charge of the U.S. Interior Ministry stated that this decision is only the first step in the development of offshore wind power in the country. If things go well, the country will also establish offshore wind power plants in North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon along the Pacific coast, and Hawaii.

It is understood that in the past few years, the US wind energy industry has developed rapidly. So far, although wind power only accounts for 3% of the country's total energy use, a number of wind power plants with hundreds of wind turbines have been built.

A survey released by the U.S. government showed that the wind energy stored on the Atlantic coast of the country is enough to meet the electricity demand of 1.4 million households.

To this end, the United States Interior Minister Ken Salazar once said in a statement: "The wind energy along the Atlantic coast has huge potential for application. Its development can not only create a considerable number of jobs, but also enhance the United States in the new The competitiveness of the energy sector and ensuring US energy security."

However, people in the industry predict that due to the expiration of the tax credit policy, the speed of development of the wind power industry in the country will slow down and there will even be stagnation at the end of this year.

At the same time, on the one hand, the construction cost of offshore wind farms is much higher than that of onshore wind farms. On the other hand, offshore wind projects have been opposed by local residents. Therefore, the development prospects of offshore wind power projects are not optimistic.

It is reported that the first project for the construction of offshore wind farms in the United States is named “Cape Wind” and plans to erect 130 wind turbines on Nantucket Island in the southeast coast of Massachusetts. The project was strongly opposed by the late Senator Ted Kennedy and the local Indian tribes. Although these wind turbines will not begin generating electricity until the end of 2015, the outcome of this compromise is a 15-year legal action.

For this reason, the U.S. Department of the Interior officials have deliberately emphasized that the areas to be rented are "very suitable" for wind power development, and that the construction of offshore wind farms in this area will not have adverse environmental impacts or conflicts with local residents.