00:00Imagine a wind turbine taller than the London Eye, floating on the open ocean.
00:04That is floating offshore wind, and the real test is now beginning.
00:08Each turbine sits on a triangular steel or concrete platform about the size of a baseball field,
00:14anchored by mooring lines, which lets it work in deep water.
00:18Floating turbines already generate power at demonstration sites in Europe and Asia.
00:23And in Scotland, an operating five-turbine project sits east of Aberdeen.
00:27In the United States, the one site is in Maine,
00:30where the University of Maine's quarter-scale concrete model, with a 108-foot turbine, floats off Casteen.
00:37Maine voters backed floating wind research back in 2010, with nearly 60% in favor.
00:43But the proposed array of 10 to 12 full-size turbines is stuck in limbo, and costs remain a challenge.
00:50Floating wind was estimated at about double the cost of fixed-bottom wind,
00:54and new ports could cost over a billion dollars each.
00:57Will it scale?
00:58Disclosure.
00:59This video contains stock footage and content created or enhanced, using AI-assisted tools.
