Plans for a $5bn cable to connect wind farms off America’s Atlantic coast clear first regulatory hurdle
By BusinessGreen staff
Google’s plans to build a $5bn transmission line to bring electricity from wind farms off the United States’ east coast back to the shore have edged closer to becoming a reality.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week approved incentive rates of 12.59 per cent for the company and its partners, private firm Good Energies and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corp.
The project would see two parallel lines stretching 250 miles, from northern New Jersey to southern Virginia, transporting up to 6,000MW of electricity from yet-to-be-built wind farms to grid connections at onshore sites in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
The companies originally wanted a 13.58 per cent rate of return, but Google spokesman Parag Chokshi insisted the lower number was not a setback and showed the project was feasible.
“We’re happy that FERC has approved incentive rates for the project. We believe this is an important milestone,” he told news agency Reuters.
The consortium behind the line hopes to have it up and running by 2016, but have yet to get approval from the Interior Department, several state agencies and the regional power grid operator, PJM.
The country’s first major offshore wind farm, Cape Wind off Massachusetts, was finally given approval last month after almost a decade of delays, and the companies said the new transmission line would encourage other such developments further down the coast.
Google has been increasing its stake in cleantech, investing in biofuels and energy-efficient IT, as well as wind, over the past year.
(Source: www.businessgreen.com )