Floating Power Plants Hold the Potential to Provide Reliable Energy
Power generating stations built onto ships and barges are emerging as a dependable electricity source for islands, harbor towns and crowded cities that have little room to spare. Backers say the vessels sidestep the complaints about space and scenery that dog large solar and wind farms, because they feed a shore-side grid directly from the water. The floating power plant concept is considerably older than the current climate push, with roots reaching back to 1931. That year the cargo ship SS Jacona was refitted to give storm-battered communities in the northeastern United States a stopgap supply. Demand grew after the…
