Mammoth US offshore wind resource survey spans Massachusetts to North Carolina
Assessment included metocean measurements and marine mammal monitoring as nation gears up for over 6GW Central Atlantic lease auction
Norwegian energy data firm TGS has completed the largest wind resource and metocean survey to date of areas spanning the US East Coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina, in time for upcoming lease auctions in the Central Atlantic.
It will be the first of four US lease sales with acreage also being offered in the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Maine, and offshore Oregon later this year.
For its East Coast campaign, TGS deployed five offshore LiDAR buoys provided by Spain’s EOLOS covering nearly 600km of coastline from Massachusetts to the Virginia/North Carolina border for a two-year period through July 2024.
The instruments collected a comprehensive range of wind and metocean data, including wind speed and direction across a range of turbine hub heights, wave heights, and ocean current data across the full water column.
Four of the five buoys were also equipped with in-air acoustic recording devices to monitor bird and bat activity, seabed-mounted sensors to measure additional metocean parameters, and acoustic monitors to identify marine mammal vocalisations.
Marine mammal protection has become increasingly vital as the US East Coast has experienced a surge in whale and dolphin strandings since the end of 2022.
US elections
Harris has a strong record of climate and environmental justice while attorney-general for California and as a US senator but faces an uphill battle against a surging Donald Trump, an avowed opponent of wind power.
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