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Writer's pictureDiego Argueta

Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

The U.S. looks to rival Europe and Asia with massive offshore floating wind turbines. On September 15th, the White House announced that it would be targeting 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035. These floating wind turbine platforms are an emerging clean energy technology that is estimated to provide clean power to more than 5 million homes. The targeted locations for these floating platforms are said to be off the coasts of California, Oregon, and in the Gulf of Maine. Implementing technology like this would not only propel the country to the forefront of climate technology but it would also produce a significant amount of cheap energy while creating new and lucrative industries. However, the United States has a long way to catch up to Europe. European companies are leading this new industry with 75% of the 50+ floating offshore wind (FOW) projects worldwide today.



The significance behind implementing this technology is that offshore wind energy can reach higher and more constant speeds due to the lack of barriers, which improves energy efficiency. The idea of floating wind structures as opposed to anchored ones opens the door to sites further offshore and allows turbine farms to be built in areas with higher wind potential. Furthermore, the potentially low environmental impact and the ease of manufacturing and installation are some of the many advantages.


But how exactly does the United States plan on reaching its goal by 2030? Well, on September 26, 2022, the Energy Department announced a $7 million dollar prize to whichever genius can build a better floating wind turbine. This new contest aims to lure U.S. companies into contributing to offshore wind energy movement. As stated by report John Fialka from Scientific America,


“The competition will have three phases. The first phase, which closes in mid-January, is designed to attract teams that have ideas for commercial technologies that would reduce the cost of floaters. Up to eight winners would receive $100,000 in cash and move to a second round where each team would develop a pathway for mass production and assembly. Up to five winners would receive $450,000 in cash and vouchers for $100,000 in technical support from Energy Department laboratories.

They would compete in a third phase and develop plans for production and deployment in specific U.S. regions. (Floaters are designed to be assembled in ports and then towed to offshore sites.) Up to three potential winners of the contest each would receive $900,000 in cash” (Fialka).


Whether these prizes are enough to incentivize U.S. companies to join the movement will only be decided with time. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure, technology as powerful as floating offshore wind turbines needs to be prioritized for the betterment of our planet.

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Han Zhong
Han Zhong
Nov 27, 2022

It's nice to see wind turbines are being pushed by governments around the world. They seem like a great source of energy: no potential disaster like nuclear plants, no idle times like solar panels. Thanks for sharing this information

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Brianna Vargas
Brianna Vargas
Nov 27, 2022

This is a great post and mentioned things I wasn't completely aware of. It would be great to have more companies join optimization in windmill technology while also building efficiency. Thanks for mentioning this!

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Honestly, I loved how this post was informative in terms of the actions that the United States Government is taking for a "greener" Earth. Sadly, i do believe that the cash prize offered by the United States will prove to be unsuccessful simply because 7 million dollars to an oil company is fairly low. Not only is it low but it is highly inefficient to essentially halt "production" to move and then halt "production" to resettle. However, I do find it refreshing to see the United States Government pushing the agenda to save mother earth.

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sdevon
Oct 30, 2022

I hope this does incentivize more companies to join in. What a great way to optimize windmill technology with the higher and more consistent wind speeds while also minimizing issues like with the impact to the bird population. I had not heard about this - so thanks for bringing it to the forefront!

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