How are the five turbines of the Block Island Wind Farm impacting their immediate environment?
Two scientists, Jennifer Amaral and Monique LaFrance Bartley, recently presented their research on these questions and found that the seabeds are undergoing some interesting changes in the marine life gravitating toward that location.
The online webinar, hosted in late July, was titled “Learning from the Block Island Wind Farm: Sediment and Sound.”
Jennifer McCann, the host and moderator for the event, said in her introduction, “In the U.S., we are positioning ourselves to become a world producer for offshore wind. It’s an opportunity to create clean energy and economic growth. This webinar is an opportunity to communicate some of the science and ask some of the questions [and] to better understand how we can minimize the effect on wildlife, and find new opportunities and innovations. Today we are going back to our Rhode Island example, which is the Block Island Wind Farm, to get a little update on what we have learned and what are some advice,” said McCann.
The BIWF, operated by Ørsted and developed by Deepwater Wind, is America’s first offshore wind farm: five turbines produce 30 megawatts of power. The
