This week, developer Jim Gordon received the news he’s dreamed of hearing for nine long years – Cape Wind is a go. The U.S.’s first offshore coastal waters windfarm, comprising 24 square miles of turbines that promise to offset a hundred million gallons of oil every year, will be situated in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod. Not everyone is delighted at the news (NIMBYs included), and local residents are set for more legal wranglings before building work commences. Nevertheless, the success of the Cape Wind proposal is a milestone in America’s clean energy industry and is sure to catalyze other offshore windfarm projects.

So what will our coastlines look like in a future dominated by coast-hugging wind power? We can catch a glimpse by looking at Denmark’s Horns Rev 2 (91 turbines) or the impressively expansive Robin Rigg windfarm in the Solway Firth off the Scottish coast.

How would you feel about such a view in your backyard?

Further reading:

Offshore wind energy: clean, but anything but cheap – National Geographic.

List of proposed offshore wind projects in North America – OffshoreWind.Net.

Researchers study feasibility of giant deep-ocean wind turbine platforms – Physorg.

Image: phault

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