Coloradans To Help Develop Floating Wind Turbines

GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - Coloradans will help in the innovative work being done to create floating offshore windmills. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden $5.7 million in funding to develop the technology.

"Offshore wind market forecast show accelerated growth," said Brian Smith, NREL's wind laboratory program manager said. "These projects ensure that innovative floating offshore wind technologies will continue to develop and expand."

NREL will partner with the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado in Boulder for part of the research. They will try to lower the cost of energy below the 7.5 cents a kilowatt-hour generated by fixed-bottom offshore wind plants.