In the list of the world’s 25 largest operating offshore wind farms, 11 are based off the United Kingdom. Denmark has five; China three; Belgium and the Netherlands each have two, while Germany and Sweden each have one. Don’t look for the United States in the list, because the US has no offshore wind farms, despite having one of the longest and windiest coast lines in the world.
With luck, that may begin to change before too long. Cape Wind, a project to build an offshore wind farm offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, recently signed a deal with Siemens for 130 3.6-megawatt wind turbines. Siemens is also reported to be likely to take $100 million equity stake in the project.
As important as the deal itself, was the date that the contract was signed. If Cape Wind had failed to show that they had made a substantial start on the project by December 31, 2013, they would have lost a U.S. investment tax credit that would cover 30 percent of its estimated $2.6 billion in construction costs.