Offshore Wind Farms

Two interesting stories in the news:

- The "Egmond aan Zee Offshore Wind Farm" off the coast of The Netherlands has 36 turbines and cost 200 million oi-row to build. It's a joint venture of Nuon and Shell, and it was built on the initiative of the Dutch Government. It'll provide the annual electricity consumption for 100 000 Dutch households. What's more, for future projects, transmitters and mikes follow the movements of dolphins and seals. Soil samples have been taken from eighty locations to establish whether life on the sea floor is changing. Two radar systems have been installed to measure migratory bird movements, and fishing is prohibited in the wind farm, so certain species might use the area as a safe haven.

- The US is proposing a 130 wind turbine farm off Boston. It'll be built by Cape Wind Associates LLC, a privately funded Boston-based energy company. The project would meet the energy needs of 400,000 homes. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, said "We have work to do as we build a clean energy economy -- let's get on with it."