3.4. Offshore wind
3.4.1. Background
Wind energy has received a lot of attention lately as one of the most promising and economically feasible technologies for clean power generation. Wind power is one of the cleanest types of power available, and can be currently cost competitive with fossil fuels, depending on siting. While most research and promotion of wind energy is focused on land-based sites, interest in offshore wind energy is growing. Very strong winds regularly blow over the oceans, winds over the ocean attain higher speeds and are less turbulent than winds over land, and no landforms block accessibility of the wind over the ocean.
Offshore wind power design is very similar to onshore windmills; thus much of the technology is currently well developed. Unlike land-based wind farms, offshore wind farms require high-voltage cable laid from windmills to shore to transport the electricity. In addition to transporting energy to shore, the main technological challenge involved in developing offshore wind sources is creating foundations stable enough to last in the harsh ocean environment and withstand storms, and to economically transport these foundations and anchor them offshore.