Deepwater: High Temps Enable Offshore Wind To Produce Massive Amount Of Electricity

Deepwater Wind says its proposed Deepwater Wind Energy Center (DWEC) could reach maximum output on the hottest days of summer in the Northeast - coinciding with the time of highest demand.

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According to data from AWS Truepower, had the DWEC - a 900 MW offshore wind farm planned 30 miles east of Montauk and 20 miles south of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island mainland - been operating, the project would have reached its maximum output during the afternoons of both June 20 and June 21, when the heat wave was at its peak.

While the wind farm is projected to produce at an average of approximately 45% capacity over the course of a full year, Deepwater says its output could have been in the range of 65% to 90% capacity during most of the hottest hours of the heat wave.

"One of the great benefits of offshore wind power is that its output surges during those hot afternoons in the dog days of summer," says Bill Moore, CEO at Deepwater Wind, who attributes the power surge to the so-called "sea breeze" effect.

"When temperatures rise onshore and heat the air, that hot air rises," Moore explains. "The resulting drop in air pressure onshore causes cooler air from the ocean to accelerate toward the coast. Those cooler ocean breezes also produce steady wind that powers our offshore wind turbines."