The United States has its first large offshore wind farm, with more to come

Why Offshore Wind and Why Now

• Offshore is pursued despite high costs because it can:
  • Serve dense coastal areas (e.g., Long Island/NYC) where large onshore sites are scarce.
  • Provide evening/winter power that complements daytime solar.
• Offshore has stronger, more consistent winds, larger turbines, and potentially higher capacity factors.
• Grid connection can be easier offshore than finding/permting onshore transmission in populated areas.
• Long Island is cited as effectively “out of land” for large new plants yet in dire need of capacity.

Economics and Cost Debates

• Consensus: offshore is more expensive than onshore wind and utility-scale solar, but often still cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear.
• Some claim the latest sea turbines no longer need subsidies; others emphasize low profits and heavy dependence on policy support.
• One back-of-envelope calculation for a project suggests about $175/MWh before maintenance, with high operating costs relative to gas.
• Disagreement on whether offshore can be cheaper than onshore solar; answer is framed as highly site- and grid-dependent.
• Critics note backup and storage costs for intermittent wind aren’t always included.

Policy, Logistics, and the Jones Act

• The Jones Act requires US-built/crewed vessels, complicating use of specialized foreign installation ships.
• This forces longer routes (even via Canadian ports) and higher logistics costs.
• Some argue the law preserves shipbuilding capacity and national security; others say it mainly inflates shipping and infrastructure costs.
• Offshore construction benefits from ship transport of very large blades, which are difficult to move over land.

NIMBY, Aesthetics, and Public Opinion

• Offshore is partly a workaround for onshore NIMBY resistance over noise, views, and health fears.
• Examples from the Netherlands and UK: land constraints plus opposition push more expensive offshore build-out.
• Debate over whether people genuinely dislike turbines or are influenced by attitudes toward wind energy itself.
• Suggestions include sharing financial benefits with nearby residents or community cooperatives; others insist people have a right to object without bearing uncompensated costs.
• Views diverge: some find offshore turbines and even oil rigs “cool” or iconic; others see them as beachscape blight.

Environmental and Technical Considerations

• Claims that large offshore farms can weaken hurricanes (by up to a category) are mentioned, with requests for more evidence.
• Concerns raised about corrosion and long-term maintenance offshore; assessment is described as “still new.”
• Fisheries impacts are framed as mixed: worries about whales vs. possible gains in lobster spawning grounds.

International and System-Level Context

• Commenters stress this is the first large offshore farm; the US is already a top onshore wind producer by total output, though wind is only about 10% of US electricity.
• Comparisons to Germany, Austria, New Zealand, and Canadian provinces highlight:
  • Different mixes of hydro, wind, and solar.
  • How cheap solar and changing climate/hydro patterns are shifting economics.
• Broader theme: progress is constrained less by technology than by politics, planning, transmission permitting, and public tolerance for trade-offs.