The US Has Big Plans for Wind Energy—but an Obscure 1920s Law Is Getting in the Way

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When turbine blades for the United States first offshore wind project left port in September 2023, headed for the Vineyard Wind 1 project off Massachusetts, they were traveling on a barge instead of a wind turbine installation vessel, or WTIV..

These purpose-built vessels are common in other parts of the world and make the job much, much easier..

And without the appropriate equipment, the countrys offshore wind efforts are being plagued by the need for repeated, smaller-capacity barge trips that have added costs to projects already beset by financial difficulties..

It took a slew of factors to sink New Jerseys planned Ocean Wind installations, says Abraham Silverman, an expert on renewable energy at Columbia University in New York...

The NREL estimates that fixed-bottom offshore wind farms in the country could theoretically generate some 1,500 gigawatts of powermore than the United States is capable of generating today...

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The US Has Big Plans for Wind Energy—but an Obscure 1920s Law Is Getting in the Way

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