NerdBeach

Norway Will Soon Have First Offshore Wind Turbine

floatingturbine Imagine a sea of wind turbines (literally), generating energy for a nation.  This might be possible eventually, and off of Norway in 2009 you should find the Hywind project bobbing along, creating power from the wind.

The turbine is a 2.3 megawatt Siemens machine that towers 65 ft in height and is held in place by three anchors. The turbine as designed can work in depths from 120 to 700 meters.

The ideal of offshore wind turbines is not a new ideal, but there are several technical problems to be worked out before it will be practical.

Alexandra Bech Gjørv, the head of new energy at StatoilHydro, related to some of the challenges in a statement:

"The wind turbines must work satisfactorily even when subjected to movements, and it must also be possible to carry out necessary maintenance to the highest of safety standards". 

Given the real estate demand that is growing all the time, it would seem natural that off shore wind turbine technology will continue to be explored until a strong solution is found.

Aloha from the Beach,

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