The U.S. Department of Energy has selected a team of researchers led by Oregon State University to receive up to $2.5 million to study what coastal communities think of potential offshore wind energy development and the benefits they could gain from those projects.
The funding will be administered by the Pacific Marine Energy Center, a consortium of universities led by OSU that works closely with coastal communities, ocean users, government agencies and technology developers for the responsible development of marine renewable energy.
The federal government is in the early stages of leasing areas off the coasts of Oregon, California and Maine for floating offshore wind energy projects. In lieu of requiring companies to pay the full lease cost to the federal treasury, the government may allow developers to establish agreements with coastal communities about specific community benefits the companies would provide.
Read more at: Oregon State University
The Block Island Wind Farm was the first commercial offshore wind farm in the U.S. (Photo Credit: Evan Krape, University of Delaware, in 2016)