Delivering Wind: A New Atlantic Transmission Line Can Make Serious Offshore Wind Power a Reality

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Conventional wisdom holds that wind power is limited by intermittency--the problem of what to do when the wind stops blowing. Getting power from where it's windiest to where it's needed is an additional difficulty. Wind farms have also faced opposition due to noise, shadow flicker and aesthetic considerations. Yet a new plan to create a transmission backbone off the Atlantic coast "shows that all of these obstacles can be overcome," says Jackie Savitz, senior scientist for the nonprofit group Oceana.

The latest plan for harnessing offshore wind power represents "a serious, functioning dean-energy infrastructure the likes of which the country's never had" says Mike Tidwell, founder and director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. The backbone has the potential to surpass any rumored wind limitations and is promising enough to have secured substantial funding from Google. And this transmission backbone could eventually be part of …