Study: Offshore Wind Turbines Could Power Third of US

A recent study found that offshore wind turbines placed in waters off the East Coast could power at least one-third of the U.S.
Study: Offshore Wind Turbines Could Power Third of US
Wind turbines in the Baltic Sea offshore wind farm on April 29, 2011 near Zingst, Germany. (Joern Pollex/Getty Images)
9/17/2012
Updated:
10/1/2015
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A recent study found that offshore wind turbines placed in waters off the East Coast could power at least one-third of the U.S.

The study, conducted by Stanford University’s engineering department, said around 144,000 turbines standing 270 feet tall would be needed in the best possible locations along the coast from Florida to Maine.

“We knew there was a lot of wind out there, but this is the first actual quantification of the total resource and the time of day that the resource peaks,” Mark Z. Jacobson, a Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering who headed the study, said in a release.

“This provides practical information to wind farm developers about the best areas to place turbines,” he said.

The scientists said they paid special attention to coastal areas along Maine to Virginia because hurricanes are less likely to strike those states.

Researchers used a computer model with the 144,000 turbines, producing 5 megawatts each and similar to turbines off the coast of Germany and Denmark, to come up with their findings. They used historical wind speed figures to create an estimate.

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