Offshore Wind: Mother Nature’s Gift to Rhode Island
Think about the last time you felt the sun on your skin or the wind on your face. Energy is all around us. It powers our homes and the places where we work and play. If you haven’t yet read our post on how the electrical grid works and why we need renewable energy, read it here.
Unfortunately, our current energy system still relies on burning fossil fuels which emits dangerous greenhouse gas pollution that compromises the health of communities, wildlife, and ecosystems and contributes to climate change (read more on that here). In 2023, Rhode Island generated 87% of its electricity from natural gas, which is largely made of the fossil fuel methane. The methane we use in Rhode Island comes primarily from the Marcellus and Utica shale regions in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, and extracting it poses serious environmental impacts to these communities, including flammable tap water. We need to find a way to meet our grid’s energy demand without polluting our air and water and making climate change worse in the process. That’s where offshore wind comes in.
Photo Credit: CharlieChesvick
What is Offshore Wind, and How Does it Work?
Why does the wind blow? The sun heats the earth’s surface unevenly, so some air gets warmer than other air. Warm air is less dense and rises, creating a low-pressure area. In contrast, cold air is denser and sinks, creating a high-pressure area. Air moves from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas to try to achieve balance, and this movement of air creates wind. And because the land heats more quickly than the ocean, the wind is almost always blowing at sea. Learn more about wind here.
Source: Tempest.earth
When the wind turns the blades of an offshore wind turbine, the blades turn a generator to create electricity. Offshore wind turbines are huge and have hundreds of parts. One turn of an offshore wind turbine can power an average household for up to two days! The diagrams and description from NYSERDA below show the different parts of a turbine and explain how the energy moves from the ocean winds to our neighborhoods.
Source: NYSERDA
Hub. The hub supports the blades and houses the pitch system, which optimizes blade angle and rotation speed.
Blades. Blades capture the wind's energy and convert it into mechanical energy.
Nacelle. The nacelle houses the components that convert mechanical energy to electrical energy.
Tower. The tower supports the mass of the nacelle, hub, and blades.
Source: NYSERDA
Offshore turbines capture the wind's energy and generate electricity.
Foundations secure turbines to the ocean floor, and cables transmit electricity to an offshore substation.
Electricity flows through a buried cable to an onshore substation that transfers the energy to our homes.
You can also watch this video to see how an offshore wind farm comes together.
What are the Benefits of Offshore Wind?
Offshore wind energy provides so many benefits:
It’s clean. It doesn’t require us to burn coal or oil. Because the wind replenishes naturally at a rate faster than we can consume it, it is a renewable energy source. We’ll never run out of it!
It is efficient. If we’re comparing apples to apples, offshore wind energy produces 1,164% of its input when converted to electricity, whereas coal only retains 29% and oil 31% as most of the energy is lost as heat. This means that for every unit of energy used to build a wind turbine, we get over ten times as much energy back.
It is local. The energy is produced here in Rhode Island, so it only has a short distance to travel before it reaches our homes. Natural gas is shipped to us from across the US using damaging and expensive pipelines. This leads us to the next point…
It is cost-effective. Because it is a local energy source, we have more control over how much it costs and it can lower our energy bills now and in the future. Gas imported from out of state becomes expensive when political instability pushes the price up.
It can create quality, family-sustaining jobs in designing, manufacturing, installing, operating, and maintaining offshore wind farms. As it’s a local energy source, the jobs and workforce benefits can stay local too.
It provides opportunities for community benefits. When an offshore wind project is being developed, communities—especially frontline and port communities—have an opportunity to shape the process through Community Benefits Agreements. In the development of the Salem Offshore Wind Terminal in Massachusetts, the community was able to secure $400,000 in scholarships for offshore wind or maritime-related career paths, $850,000 community improvement project, $1.25 million to childcare to ensure jobs are accessible, and much more.
There are many ways we can shape and influence offshore wind development. These Principles for a Just Transition in Offshore Wind Energy say more about how to center the needs of communities that are most impacted by climate change and polluting fossil fuel infrastructure.
Why Does Offshore Wind Work for New England?
Offshore wind isn’t the only renewable energy out there, but it is one of the best options we have for our region. New England is well-suited to offshore wind development for three reasons:
Offshore wind energy is available close to New England’s densely populated coastal centers where energy demand is high and space for other energy resources are limited.
The winds off our coasts are among the most abundant in the world and the largest untapped energy resource currently available.
The gradually sloping Outer Continental Shelf offshore Rhode Island enables the use of the most advanced, reliable, and affordable technology.
Furthermore, wind and solar power are complementary throughout the seasons and different times of day. When solar is unavailable at night, wind is much stronger and provides the power grid with the energy it needs.
Source: Synapse Energy
Debunking Myths about Offshore Wind
Some of what you’ve just read may be different from what you’ve heard before. Sadly, the story about renewable energy is muddled by dark money groups, often tied to the fossil fuel industry, that intentionally skew the facts and sometimes straight up lie. This includes Rhode Island’s own regulated utility monopoly—Rhode Island Energy (RIE). Even though the state’s 100% Renewable Energy Standard requires more and more of the electricity sold to RI customers to come from renewable energy sources, RIE keeps us reliant on fossil fuels because they profit from it. These are common questions that come up in conversations about offshore wind and truthful answers to them:
If I don’t live near the coast, how will I benefit from offshore wind? Offshore wind (OSW) power doesn’t only benefit people on the coast. The energy harvested from OSW wind farms feeds into the statewide electricity grid—including the energy generated by the Block Island Wind Farm.
What about when the wind isn’t blowing? While the speed of the wind does change day to day, offshore wind in New England is a reliable energy source, especially when used with battery storage technology. The winds are even stronger in the winter, so offshore wind generates the most electricity when natural gas prices are higher because of the demand for heating. Some states are already using wind energy to meet around half of their electricity demand. If you ever see an offshore wind turbine that’s not spinning, even though the wind is blowing, that is because they are shut off for regular maintenance. Accounting for variations in wind speeds and planned maintenance, offshore wind turbines operate about 50% of the time—that’s still enough for one single turbine to deliver energy to thousands of homes every year.
Won’t offshore wind energy increase my monthly utility bill? Rhode Island is currently reliant on fossil gas and the price of it fluctuates wildly due to geopolitical circumstances out of the state’s control. Alternatively, the price of offshore wind energy is negotiated between the state and the project developer in long-term contracts that stabilize energy prices. In addition, when energy demand is highest during extreme cold or extreme heat, the regional grid is forced to deploy dirtier and more expensive forms of energy like coal and oil to meet customers’ demand. The Virginia utility company building the largest US offshore wind project in the US said that if the project had been in operation in 2022 during Winter Storm Elliot, it would have saved customers $10 million in a single day! More generally, utilizing OSW contributes to better air quality for the whole state since fewer fossil fuels are being burned. A recent study showed that 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind (enough to generate electricity for more than 4 million households) would provide almost $400 million in public health benefits each year.
Do offshore wind turbines harm or kill animals? Many people are concerned about the birds and animals that live in the ocean and on the ocean floor. While all human marine activity impacts marine wildlife and habitat, offshore wind companies are required to avoid, minimize, and mitigate these impacts during every phase of planning, development, and operations. Years of research gathered through ocean surveys determine where turbines can even be installed in the first place, ensuring that important habitat, cultural resources, fish spawning areas, and marine mammal breeding grounds are avoided. During construction, seasonal restrictions are put in place to avoid all activities during key migration times, as well as protection plans which include Protected Species Observers (PSOs) who are marine mammal experts and certified by the federal government to do active monitoring on offshore wind vessels using binoculars and underwater acoustic monitoring. If an animal is spotted nearby, construction stops. Monitoring continues for as long as the turbines are in operation. To date, not a single whale death has been linked to sound related to offshore wind. While the government is unable to conduct necropsies on all whale mortalities due to decomposition or being stranded in inaccessible areas, of the 40% of whales they are able to examine, many mortalities were attributed to ship strikes or entanglement in fishing gear.
Will offshore wind hurt the fishing industry? In fact, the largest threats to the fishing industry are overfishing and the acidification of the ocean. Ocean acidification is happening because—while the ocean is always absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere—burning fossil fuels is increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. In other words, the ocean is absorbing too much CO2, which changes the water’s chemistry and impacts the health of marine organisms like oysters and coral. On the other hand, one seven-year study of fish near the Block Island Wind Farm shows no difference in the catch of most species and an increase in cod and black sea bass. Another study shows that OSW structures act like artificial reefs. Some fishers, who have been impacted by the shrinking scallop industry, have been partnering with OSW developers to provide safety and scouting for OSW vessels and clear fishing gear to make way for cables, monopiles, and surveys. OSW farms and fisheries can coexist, and the two sectors are working together to inform compatible development.
Won’t offshore wind turbines ruin the view of the ocean? Nope. “How visible an object is on the ocean horizon is influenced by many factors and fluctuates with weather, time of year, and time of day. Most planned offshore wind developments will be built far enough from shore (more than 20 miles) that they will be very difficult to see under most conditions” (Offshore Wind Facts). When offshore wind turbines are visible, they are very faint and about the size of a toothpick on the horizon. You may see wind turbines on land—these are onshore wind turbines, which are not the same as offshore wind turbines. In addition, property values in RI have not been affected by wind projects.
What happens to turbines if they break or when they're no longer in operation? If an offshore wind turbine breaks (which rarely happens) or malfunctions, it is usually covered under the manufacturer’s warranty and even if it isn’t, the developer is required to fix them per the contract with the state. It’s true that offshore wind turbines are very large and require a lot of material to build. Another concern is about what happens to a turbine once it reaches the end of its lifespan, which is usually 20 to 30 years. OSW farms can have their lifetimes extended or be repowered, which means that they are replaced with newer models. Some wind farms are decommissioned, or dismantled altogether. Compare this to the lifespan of an oil rig, which is also 20 to 30 years and comes with high risks of oil spills and pollution. According to the US Department of Energy, “About 85%–90% of the mass of a wind turbine is made of materials that can already be commercially recycled.” Engineers are exploring options for reuse and recycling, which include making resins for countertops and cement. Ultimately, we can count on science and innovation to continue improving our energy systems and processes.
Didn’t the current administration stop all offshore wind projects? The Trump administration signed an executive order on January 20, 2025 halting all permitting and lease sales for the technology. In May, attorneys general from 17 states filed a lawsuit against Trump's attempt to stop the development of wind energy. More recently, The Budget Reconciliation Bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that passed on July 4, 2025 directs the Treasury department to enforce the phaseout of tax credits for wind and solar projects that are not completed by the end of 2027. It also directs the Interior department to review and revise any policies that favor renewables over other energy sources (National Law Review). This doesn’t mean that all offshore wind projects have stopped; however, it will be much, much more difficult to get them online.
A study from Princeton University shows that with the passage of the Budget Reconciliation Bill will increase greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy costs for American households. The current administration claims on their “Fact Sheet” that solar and wind are “unreliable” and “foreign-controlled” and that renewable energy projects would “displace affordable, dispatchable energy” and “denigrate the beauty of our Nation’s natural landscape”. As you’ve learned here, none of these claims is true.
What Now?
It’s important to focus on the truth behind who controls our energy systems and who pays the cost of inequitable systems. Even though the current administration may not support the development of offshore wind, Rhode Islanders can keep building support on a local and regional level. Let’s not waste this amazing opportunity to push for greater democratic power over our energy, our health, and the well-being of the planet.
If you would like to voice your support today for offshore wind that delivers local benefits, dependable power, and a sustainable future for Rhode Island, sign the Yes to Wind petition here.
Source: Oceantic Network
