Floating turbine launch seen as sign of progress as America moves toward offshore wind power

Today’s launch of “VolturnUS 1:8,” the first grid-connected floating offshore wind turbine to be deployed in the U.S., is “another signal of steady progress toward development of an American offshore wind industry,” according to Christopher Long, Manager of Offshore and Siting Policy for the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

The floating turbine’s launch in Brewer, Me. was attended by a bipartisan delegation including the governor and several members of Congress. It follows a series of advances for offshore wind over the past year, Long said, including: