By Carrie Havey
By Carrie Havey
Cape Wind Associates LLC is about to begin construction on
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| Image credit: wikipedia.org |
their wind farm in Nantucket Sound. Cape Wind has secured all its permits and is putting together financing for the project. Cape Wind plans to have 130 turbines, with a maximum production of 454 megawatts, that are 5.6 miles from Cotuit on Cape Cod. The average expected production will be 174 megawatts, which is almost 75% of the 230 megawatt average electricity demand for Cape Cod as well as the Islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
A second wind project is now on the scene. Deepwater Wind has won a competitive lease auction to develop two offshore wind energy sites. This was the first-ever auction held by the US Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for commercial offshore wind development. It will total more than 164,000 acres and will be located approximately 17 miles south of the Cape. Deepwater's sites will produce enough energy to power approximately 350,000 homes and displace over 1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Most of Deepwater's turbines will be located 20 to 25 miles from land.
To learn more, see http://www.capewind.org
(Excerpted from the USGBC MA August 2013 Newsletter)
