First Offshore Wind Research Buoys Deployed Off the West Coast
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office deployed two offshore wind research buoys off the coast of California. The buoys come as part of the research funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to gather data to support decisions on potential leasing of wind energy sites off California. One buoy is stationed along the northern coast near Humboldt County, with the second deployed along the central coastline near Morro Bay. The buoys will gather wind measurements for 12 months to validate wind models, improve understanding of air-sea interactions, and reduce uncertainty and risk in characterizing offshore wind resources.
Photo credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory