We recently sailed to Block Island, a picturesque windswept island, roughly a dozen miles off the coast of Rhode Island. A haven for vacationers, Block Island also features the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. Five 6MW turbines spin three miles south-est of the island generating enough electricity to power 17,000 homes. The wind farm is small by international standards but is an important first step.

It is fitting that Block Island hosts the first US offshore wind farm, as it has a history of utilizing wind power that stretches back over 200 years. An updated repost.

The first wind mill, known as the Harbor Mill was originally built in 1770 and transported to Block Island around 1810. A second wind mill, the Littlefield Mill was installed around 1815. Both stood through the turn of the twentieth century.

The old Block Island mills used wind power to grind corn rather than generate electricity, of course. While some hotels generated their own electricity, island-wide electric power didn’t arrive on Block Island until 1926.

Block Islanders pay some of the highest utility rates in the United States — 50 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) or more during peak summer months, nearly five times the national average. Until the installation of the wind farm, they have relied on antiquated and dirty diesel generators.

 I remember sailing into Block in 1979 and seeing the first modern wind turbine installed on the island when wind power was added to the grid, albeit briefly. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began installing experimental wind turbines in locations with favorable wind conditions. Block Island was one such site. NASA installed on the island a 125-foot diameter two-bladed powered turbine mounted on a 100-foot tower capable of generating 200KW. After moderate success, NASA decided by 1982 that the installation was too small to be economical. At the time, NASA was developing new designs with blade rotors of over 400 feet. The new wind farm rotors, purchased from the French manufacturer Alstom, are roughly 500 feet in diameter.

The Block Island wind farm is a small but important first step in the further development of clean and renewable energy in the United States.  It is also in many ways a return to the reliable wind power that Block Islanders started using over 200 years ago.