West Coast's First Offshore Wind Farm May Appear by 2017

Five floating wind turbines, each the height of a Manhattan skyscraper, might soon appear off the Oregon coast

The U.S. Energy Department announced it had approved plans for the first offshore wind energy farm on the West Coast on Wednesday. A Seattle energy company called Principle Power aims to build the wind energy farm 16 miles off Coos Bay, Ore., according to multiple news reports.

The project is unusual because it involves floating turbines. Normally, offshore wind farms are built with turbines planted on the ocean floor. Principle Power, on the other hand, plans to put each of the 6-megawatt turbines, which will each be as high as 60-story building, on a platform anchored with cables to the ocean floor. Despite their size, they will be barely visible, according to The Los Angeles Times. Read more...