The “floating wind turbine” is a joint project of the Siemens Division Renewable Energy – the world market leader for offshore wind power stations – and the Norwegian energy company StatoilHydro. Since Norway’s windiest regions are often protected nature reserves, the high seas offered a viable alternative. The wind there blows more consistently and stronger than near the coast. According to calculations made by the American National Renewable Energy Laboratory the wind potential within 50 nautical miles of the U.S. coast is greater than the currently installed electrical power of all U.S. power stations – that would be more than 900 GW. Wind parks at open sea, so-called offshore installations, have already existed for fifteen years. But all these installations are near the coast because they can only be anchored to the ground in shallow waters, i.e. at a sea depth of less than 30 feet. The prototype of the floating wind turbine should go into operation off the Norwegian coast from 2009. (PN 2008.19)