The Alternative Energy Source
A Student Produced Site for Alternative Energy Education
Large Wind Technology
Offshore Wind
There are an extensive amount of wind projects that exist nationwide, too many to recount in a few pages. This page is dedicated to giving a short introduction of some of the major projects that are available in the United States. Each section includes some brief information as well as links to existing projects related to each major wind energy technology.
Current Wind Energy Projects
Offshore wind development is a brand new energy opportunity and can provide the country with thousands of new American jobs. The AWEA reports that new manufacturing facilities and jobs associated with the facilities will be located in areas that need jobs the most: the Great Lakes region, near ports along the Eastern Seaboard, and the Gulf Coast. AWEA goes onto explain that starting a "pipeline" of projects will lead to creation of a substantial number of industrial manufacturing jobs; workers will be needed to manufacture the necessary components: turbines, foundations, blades, sub-stations, and cables. The Department of Energy estimates that 500,000 American jobs will be supported by the wind industry by 2030.
Why Offshore Wind?
Offshore wind is a huge source of American energy that is close to major population hubs and electricity loads. AWEA reports that the 28 coastal states and the Great Lakes states use more than 78% of the country's electricity. An inexhaustible, clean, and stable source of energy allows utility companies to (1) lock in prices for at least twenty years and (2) provide major cities facing air quality problems with clean electricity that has no power plant air emissions. Not only is offshore wind expansive, it's also completely clean.
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Offshore Wind: America's New Energy Opportunity
Cape Wind Project: At A Glance
Cape Wind is America's first Offshore Wind farm; located in Nantucket Sound, the wind farm uses 180 turbines to produce 420 megawatts of renewable energy and in average winds the wind farm provides Cape Cod and the surrounding islands with 75% of its electricity needs. The link leads to the Cape Wind Project website where readers can learn more about the project itself and the benefits that are already being seen from Cape Wind and Offshore Wind
Wind and Water Power Program Large Wind
The DOE's Wind and Water Power Program (WWPP) seeks to increase the productivity and reliability of large wind technologies while lowering the cost of wind energy itself. The main goal of the program is reducing the electricity costs of large land-based wind systems in wind speeds between 15-16 mph (denoted as Class 4 winds) to only 3.6 cents/kilowatt-hour (kWh) by the end of 2012. The current baseline cost of wind produced electricity is five to six cents per kWh.
Highlights of the Program
- Working with wind industry to develop a number of viable prototypes. Example- GE Wind Energy 1.5 megawatt wind turbines, by 2009 more than 12,000 of these turbines have been installed in 19 countries worldwide.
- Working with industry to improve performance and reliability of wind system components. Example- Knight and Carver's Wind Blade Division worked with the DOE's Sandia National Laboratory in order to develop wind turbine blades that the company expects to increase energy capture by five to ten percent.
- Installed a 1.5 MW wind turbine at the National Wind Technology Center in Boulder, Colorado. The turbine is the first large-scale wind turbine that is fully owned by the DOE, it will serve as a basis for further research to improve wind technology performance while lowering wind energy costs. The wind turbine provides electric power for the facility and feeds energy back into the local power grid. Here is a video of the turbine's installation in late 2009.
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There are wind projects in every state in the U.S. Want to learn what wind projects your state is completing? Check out the AWEA State Fact Sheets to learn more
For Further Learning
NREL National Wind Technology Center in Boulder, Colorado
WWPP Small Wind
Along with their Large Wind program, the WWPP also has projects devoted to small (distributed) wind technologies. Distributed wind turbines are turbines that produce one kilowatt to one megawatt of electricity. The distributed wind technology projects serve to address reliability and performance challenges associated with small turbines. The goal of the program is to expand the use of distributed wind turbines fivefold by 2015. The goal is based on a 2007 baseline of 2400 turbines; support for the goal comes from providing technical support and independent testing of the small turbines in order to assure that reliable products are available on the domestic market.
Highlights of the Program
- Launched an independent small wind test project in 2007 to allow the industry to assist consumers in finding small turbine systems certified for safety and performance.
- Has worked with small wind industry partners to create highly renowned and commercially available small wind systems. Example- The DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) assisted in the development of a state-of-the-art turbine that is designed for operation in remote, cold-climate areas. By 2007, eleven of the turbines had been installed and ten more had been sold and awaiting installation.
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Nationwide Wind Projects
Small Wind Technology
Works Consulted
"Distributed (Small) Wind Technology." Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy: Distributed (Small) Wind Technology. US Department of Energy, 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/wind_dist_tech.html>.
"Large Wind Technology." Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy: Wind Program. US Department of Energy, 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/large_wind_tech.html>.
Offshore Wind: America's New Energy Opportunity. N.p.: American Wind Energy Association, n.d. Print.
"Project at a Glance." Cape Wind. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. <http://www.capewind.org/article24.htm>.
"State Fact Sheets." American Wind Energy Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. <http://www.awea.org/learnabout/publications/factsheets/factsheets_state.cfm>.