A new report from the Environment Massachusetts Research & Policy Center says Massachusetts could produce more energy from offshore wind than any other state.
Ben Hellerstein, the State Director of the Policy Center, says Massachusetts has a practically limitless clean energy resource off shore.
The report, entitled Wind Energy to Spare: The Enormous Energy Potential of Atlantic Offshore Wind, says the state’s offshore wind potential is equivalent to more than 19 times the state’s annual electricity consumption. It adds that if all heating and transportation in the state were converted from fossil fuels to electric power, offshore wind could still produce eight times as much energy as Massachusetts consumes each year.
New Bedford Mayor, Jon Mitchell, says his city has positioned itself as an offshore wind energy leader, saying New Bedford is the closest industrial port to 25% of all offshore wind reserves in the U.S.
Offshore wind is a proven technology overseas. In Europe, 4,100 offshore wind turbines supply enough electricity to power more than 20 million homes each day.
There are now 13 leased offshore wind projects moving forward in the United States, which could provide enough electricity to power approximately 5.2 million homes.
In December, three companies submitted proposals to develop the first offshore wind farm providing power to Massachusetts - Deepwater Wind, Vineyard Wind, and Bay State Wind.