Five new wind turbines will start spinning later this year off the coast of Rhode Island. The project, called the Block Island Wind Farm, is the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. Offshore wind farms are located in the ocean.
Offshore turbines work just like ones on land. The breeze turns the turbines’ blades, spinning generators that produce electricity. The advantage of offshore wind farms over land-based farms is that they can harness the strong, steady winds that blow over oceans.
“There is a huge potential for offshore wind power in the U.S.,” says Cristina Archer, an environmental engineer at the University of Delaware. Wind doesn’t produce pollution and is a renewable energy source. That means it will never run out.