US offshore wind has produced so much ambition, hope and, in some cases, controversy that it’s sometimes easy to forget that the one thing it hasn’t yet generated very much of is power – with the greatest respect, of course, to the pioneering Block Island and two pilot turbines off Virginia.

That is why the start of cabling work by the jack-up vessel Jill off New York state, following soon after a similar milestone off Massachusetts, is worth marking as a tangible step towards the huge, commercial-scale industry that forms such an important part of President Joe Biden’s green agenda.

There was also progress this week for the giant Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project – the largest planned in the US at 2.6GW and much bigger brother to the twin-turbine pilot mentioned above – which received approval from state utility regulators despite continuing concerns over cost.

Elsewhere on the east coast, the state of Maryland was told that an “ambitious but achievable” push for 6GW of offshore wind could unlock billons of dollars in savings and investments.

On the west coast, meanwhile, Recharge this week continued its analysis of the milestone California wind auction, with an analysis article that explained why bidders paid a premium for sites in the north of the state, and insights from industry expert Philip Totaro on US floating’s ‘Hollywood premiere’.

Big oil's green spree

The world’s oil & gas giants this week continued proving that they can’t get enough of renewables.

European players Equinor and Shell were, respectively, the subject of Recharge articles over their offshore wind plans in the Australian state of Tasmania and off Brazil in conjunction with local power giant Eletrobras. Shell also tasted success in the latest Dutch offshore wind auction.

Friday brought one of the biggest recent green power deals involving an oil & gas major when Spain’s Repsol parted with $600m for a near-8GW portfolio of Spanish wind and solar assets.

Finally, oil-rich Saudi Arabia via its PIF wealth fund added to its own renewables arsenal with a stake in global offshore wind developer Skyborn Renewables.

Wind's parrot peril

Curtailment, weather, even war – there are many reasons why wind turbines sometimes stop turning, but Recharge this week reported what could be a first in the shape of the orange-bellied parrot.

Regulators in Australia have told would-be developers of a $1.1bn wind farm that they’ll have to keep their turbines switched off for five months a year to protect the birds during periods of migration.