What The U.S. Could Learn About Offshore Wind From The U.K.'s Boom

05:11

March 09, 2018

Chris Bentley

Barry Denness is head of port operations for Siemens' wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Hull, U.K. (Chris Bentley/WBUR)

Coastal states in the U.S. are rapidly developing offshore wind farms. The Department of Energy says only one farm is operating now, but more than two dozen are in the works. That could make some parts of the U.S. look more like the U.K., which leads the world in offshore wind energy.

Chris Bentley (@Cementley) reports from one part of the U.K. that's staking its economic recovery on offshore wind.

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Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) ferry wind energy technicians out to offshore wind farms from the Port of Grimsby. (Chris Bentley/WBUR)

Fisherman Steve Barratt is aboard his boat Razorbill in the Ramsgate harbor. (Chris Bentley for WBUR)

Merlin Jackson, left, and John Nichols help run the Thanet Fishermen's Association, which has organized against offshore wind farms in Kent. (Chris Bentley for WBUR)

Dawn and Jason Parrott used to fish for a living. Now he's employed by a wind energy company to run technicians out to offshore wind farms. The pay's good and stability is better than being a fisherman, but he says he misses the thrill. (Chris Bentley for WBUR)

A wind farm off Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island, in America (Chris Bentley for WBUR)

Chris' reporting was supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

This segment aired on March 9, 2018.

What The U.S. Could Learn About Offshore Wind From The U.K.'s Boom

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