Benefits

BENEFITS OF OFFSHORE WIND

Offshore wind provides significant benefits:

• Small environmental footprint when properly sited — at least 15 miles off shore to protect birds, marine life and views
• Diversification of renewable energy portfolio reduces cost of decarbonizing electrical power generation; distinctive daily and seasonal profile increases value to grid
• One 420 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm (60 turbines, 7 MW each)
  • generates enough electricity to power 120,000 to 225,000 homes annually, depending on the wind regime at the project site and average residential electricity use in the area served
  • yields impressive GHG reductions — 1,570,000 tons of CO₂ per year when replacing coal-fired power, 743,000 tons of CO₂ per year when replacing gas-fired power
  • provides up to 500 construction jobs and 40 full-time operations and maintenance jobs