By Ryan Collins

 Largest offshore wind farm is in Denmark  Dong Energy and Siemens Renewable Energy Provided the 91 turbines  Combined capacity of 209 MW  Covering 35 square kilo-meters  Permanently staffed by 24-person contingent on a platform  The designing started in 2002 Anonymous, Denmark Brings World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Online. Retrieved November 24, 2009, from the inhabitat database.(picture) : offshore-wind-farm-online/ offshore-wind-farm-online/ Bill Sweet(11/9/2009). Largest offshore Wind Farm Is Inaugurated. Retrieved November 24, 2009, from the IEEE Spectrum database. offshore-wind-farm-is-inaugurated

 6 th June 2009 world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine was erected.  Placed 10 meters off coast of Norway  Feeding power to the mainland grid  Over two years StatoilHydro will test how 2.3MW turbine hold up in 220 meter deep water

 Cost $62.5 million (US)  The buoy based on the ones used for floating oil and gas platforms  The steel cylinder extends 100 metres underwater  Small-scale test in 2005 gave promising results  Movement and acceleration forces stronger but motion controller will overcome challenges

 What could go wrong is  Corrosion  Floating debris  Sea ice  And marine growth  The buoy tethered to the seabed by 3 cables  If the cables and buoy fails blades could hit water or turbine could over turn

 Company from Netherlands planning on using floating turbines for power.  Using a prototype deep water platform with an 80 KW turbine  Predicts operational 2MW turbine summer 2009  Pushing authorisation for 3.5 MW demonstration off coast of northeast U.S. Coast  The U.S. has no wind farms approved offshore but has ideal conditions

 Wind farms out of sight face less public opposition  Turbines must be taller and wider at the bases the deeper you go  Beyond 50 meters not cost effective

 Floating wind farms ideal for countries like:  Norway  Italy  And Japan  Strong case for U.S. 810 of 100+ GW of offshore wind potential in deeper than 30 meters of water Prachi Patel(6/2009). Floating Wind Turbines to Be Tested. Retrieved November 24, 2009, from the IEEE Spectrum database. tested Pictures same source