Mayflower Wind has agreed to host an experimental floating platform for offshore wind as part of a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The platform will go in Mayflower’s lease area, about 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.
Seth Kaplan, director of external affairs for Mayflower Wind, said floating turbines have been described as a Holy Grail because they can be placed in deeper water.
“The industry has been able to go deeper and deeper with conventional, fixed solutions,” he said. “But floating is still out there as something that will be needed as we go into deeper and deeper waters.”
A separate company is developing the floating platform.
It’s one of three offshore-wind technology projects recently announced by the Department of Energy with a combined $21 million funding.
In another of the funded projects, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will collect wind data and work to improve offshore wind forecasting.
