PORTLAND — A Seattle company’s plan to build the West Coast’s first offshore wind energy farm off Oregon’s Coos Bay is one of three floating wind farm projects to win up to $47 million each from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Federal officials announced the grant winners on Wednesday. The other projects are planned off the coast of Virginia and New Jersey. Projects off the shore of Maine, in the Gulf of Mexico and on Lake Erie were not selected.
Oregon’s 30-megawatt pilot facility would be 15 miles from shore and would use floating wind turbine technology.
Though offshore wind farms are an expensive source of energy, proponents say they could bring clean, efficient electricity, create jobs and stimulate the economy.
