Authorities gave a signal to construct the 800-megawatt power Vineyard Wind Project off the coasts in Massachusetts.

According to CNBC news, the renewable wind energy project will create 3600 jobs and power 400 thousand homes when it becomes operational in 2023.

The federal government has approved installing about 84 turbines, but with G.E. Renewable Energy’s massive Haliade-X turbines, only 62 will be required for the offshore wind energy facility.

This $3.03 billion project is a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of the Iberdrola group based in Spain, and costs $3.03 billion and could be operational in 2023.

Heather Zichal, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, says that the project is a “historic day for clean energy” and “a time to push forward on offshore wind, catch up to global competitors and decarbonise our electric grid so that the U.S. can deliver economic and environmental benefits to our citizens and combat climate change”.

According to the article, it will also be a boost to the U.S. wind energy’s “fledging” offshore wind sector.

U.S. share of renewable energy.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. still uses fossils fuel as its primary source of energy, specifically from petroleum (35%), natural gas (34%), coal (10%), nuclear (9%) with renewable energy accounting for 12% of its total energy source. Its renewable energy source consists of wind (26%), hydroelectric (22%), wood (18%), biofuels (17%), solar (11%), and the rest are from biomass waste and geothermal.

State policies and how they can help expand the U.S. uptake of renewable energy source.

Every year the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) release a scorecard on each U.S. states based on their energy policies and how it can either boost or prevent the expansion of local renewable energy.

This year’s report shows that 3 states excelled in their sores, 8 states have above average scores, 12 got average scores, 14 were mediocre, and 14 got failing scores.

The following are the top five States with enabling policy or quality of its policy or program for clean energy. Massachusetts with 39 pts out of a possible 42 pts, California 38 pts, New York, 36 pts Illinois with 31 pts and New Hampshire 29 pts. The first three states got A’s, and the last two ones got Bs.

To know how the integration of climate change into policies can drive climate adaptation and mitigation actions, please read this post, Does Mainstreaming Climate Adaptation into Policies Lead to Concrete Actions?

When it comes to offshore wind energy, the United States has some catching up to do with Europe’s more mature markets. But this massive wind energy project is a step in the right direction for the U.S. and very encouraging news to the renewable energy sector worldwide.

Source Citation:

Frangoul, A. (2021, May 12). ‘A huge moment’: U.S. gives go-ahead for its first major offshore wind farm. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.msn.com/en-nz/money/markets/a-huge-moment-u-s-gives-go-ahead-for-its-first-major-offshore-wind-farm/ar-BB1gDTxv?ocid=entnewsntp

U.S. energy facts explained. (2021, May 14). Eia. Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/

McCoy, M. (2021, February 10). The 2021 Community Power Scorecard. ILSR. Retrieved from https://ilsr.org/2021-community-power-scorecard/