Massachusetts is to provide $700,000 in funding to advance offshore wind development in the state.
Governor Charlie Baker said cash would be spread across three projects and nine academic and research institutions.
Results are designed to “to identify industry workforce training and safety requirements; establish a multi-university partnership focused on innovation and driving down costs; and develop a new technique to monitor the structural health of wind blades”.
Baker said: “These research projects will identify ways to make offshore wind projects more cost-effective and beneficial to the ratepayers of Massachusetts.”
Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito added: “These projects will help further establish Massachusetts as a leader in this emerging industry and position our institutions to compete for federal research funding in the future.”
Research is funded through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Renewable Energy Trust and is part of a broader initiative to make the Commonwealth a national leader in offshore wind research and development.
Image: a blade test in action (US NWTC)
Boston funds offshore research
Three projects to boost cost-effectiveness, safety, blade health
By EBS