Floaters. Tethered offshore wind turbines

Floaters are offshore wind turbines that are anchored by mooring lines. They can be installed in much deeper water than current offshore wind turbines, which have fixed foundations located less than 160 feet of water. If water is deeper than that, the cost of fixed turbines becomes prohibitive. Also, the cost of installing floaters may become cheaper than for fixed. Plus, there are far more locations near urban centers for floaters. So, looks like floaters is the way to go.

Floaters can be manufactured in ports or on major rivers, then towed to sea completely assembled, then tethered to the ocean floor. This is not new technology, floating offshore oil rigs have been in operation for years, sometimes in very deep water.

Maine is a leader in floaters

Maine is a leader in this. The heating oil spike in 2009 triggered creation of a polit floter. It worked fine, however the project went dormant until now.

Backed by Maine’s Legislature with one vote short of a unanimous approval and financial help from the U.S. Department of Energy, the team erected a model wind turbine, one-eighth the size of a conventional turbine, and put it on a float. Then the team had a tugboat tow it out to an offshore site.

It was small but strong enough to stand up to powerful…