NEW OFFSHORE WIND SITES TO OPEN

Wind energy shifts direction; Feds to auction sites off Martha’s Vineyard

Lindsay Kalter, January 11, 2015 (Boston Globe)

“With the Cape Wind project on the ropes, the [offshore wined] industry’s future in Massachusetts may rest on a federal wind power auction…Twelve companies have qualified to bid Jan. 29 as the federal government auctions four commercial leases for 742,000 acres of sea roughly 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The power generated, if leased and used by the industry, could provide electricity for about 1.4 million homes, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said…The Massachusetts Wind Energy Area that is up for auction is farther offshore than Cape Wind’s estimated $2.5 billion project to install 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound…The auction comes as Cape Wind’s $150 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy is in jeopardy after National Grid and NStar backed out of their contracts with the company, saying it had missed a Dec. 31 deadline for the necessary financing and had not provided collateral to extend the deadline…From the beginning, the Cape Wind project was fraught with criticism…Christopher Boelke, field office supervisor for the national Marine Fisheries Services, said…people may view [the lease area’s projects] as “less intrusive” than Cape Wind, given that it’s farther offshore…” click here for more

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