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Interior Secretary Pushes to Complete Cape Wind Project

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Obama administration is pushing for a "common sense" resolution by March 1 to a battle over Cape Wind, the wind project off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., that local landowners have spent years fighting.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday that he plans to convene a meeting next week in an attempt to broker a deal that can satisfy all sides in the dispute. He said in a statement that if an agreement cannot be reached by March 1, "I will be prepared to take the steps necessary to bring the permit process to conclusion."

The announcement came after the National Park Service said that Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, a designation that could complicate commercial development. The U.S. government cited the body of water's historic and cultural significance, especially to the Wampanoag tribes, which believe that their ancestors lived on land now submerged beneath the water.

Cape Wind, which could be the country's first-ever offshore wind farm, is to consist of 130 wind turbines to be set up in 25 square miles of the sound, just off Cape Cod, Nantucket Island, and Martha's Vinyard. The controversial project has won state and local approvals, but those are being challenged in state court as local residents have raised numerous objections. The project's developer is privately held Energy Management Inc., founded by energy developer Jim Gordon.

The bolded sentence is a pretty strong political statement by the administration.


United States: Momentum Continues For Offshore Wind

The NYPA has released an RFP for the development of offshore wind power projects in the New York State waters of Lake Erie and/or Lake Ontario. Final proposals are due June 1, 2010.

On December 1, 2009, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) released a request for proposals (RFP) for the development of offshore wind power projects in the New York State waters of Lake Erie and/or Lake Ontario.

The NYPA is soliciting proposals for the development of a utility scale, offshore wind power project totaling approximately 120-500 megawatts. The project would interconnect with new or existing transmission facilities of the NYPA, National Grid, New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric, which are all controlled by the New York Independent System Operator. The NYPA would purchase the full output of the wind power project under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).

A PPA ensures stable long term revenues, the key condition to investment in the sector.


In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Tue Jan 5th, 2010 at 06:20:16 AM EST
The Bloomberg article has a nice plug from an energy finance head at Dexia Bank, supporting Thornton Bank and Meerwind projects.  Sweet.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Tue Jan 5th, 2010 at 08:08:37 AM EST
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