Wind-measuring buoy installed
The floating “spar buoy” will be set up in the Atlantic Ocean, where it will use a laser radar system to measure wind speed, direction and shear in preparation for the development of offshore wind power.
The buoy, made of high-density plastic and weighing 15 tons, was manufactured in Norway by the renewable energy firm Natural Power and arrived in Rhode Island by truck in three pieces. Since then, technicians from Norway have been working to put the device together with employees of Specialty Diving Services, a Rhode Island marine construction company with a shipping yard in the Quonset Business Park.