Cape Wind: Wind Technology Pioneer
November 14, 2009
Written by Patrick Lo, in Green News, Green News Feature, Wind
While wind is hardly groundbreaking in the renewable technology field, the Cape Wind Project is unprecedented in size and ambition. The $1.6 billion, 24-square mile offshore wind farm will be comprised of 130 wind turbines producing over 420 MW of clean energy. It will be located about 5.2 miles off the shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts on the Horseshoe Shoal in the Nantucket Sound.
Each wind turbine will be about 600 yards apart, stand roughly 440 feet tall from the base of the tower to the tip of the blade with a base diameter of 16 feet. At its peak production the wind farm will produce over 450 MW with average production expected to be about 170 MW. If expectations are met this will cover close to 75% of Cape Cod’s usual consumption greatly reducing its dependence on imported oil. This is of great significance given Cape Cod’s history with oil spills. Most notably a massive 7.7 million gallons of oil was spilled in 1976 when a tanker ran aground into Nantucket Island. Most recently, in 2003, 98,000 gallons spilled also running aground and ultimately killing over 400 birds.
Cape Wind is a project directed by Energy Management Inc. (EMI). EMI, headquartered right in Massachusetts, has had over 30 years of experience developing clean energy projects involving six natural gas and one biomass projects.
As one of the first offshore wind farms in the United States, Cape Wind understands the scope of its project within the larger vision of a greener America. Aside from providing clean efficient energy, they are determined to contribute to America’s growing energy independence. With less dependence on foreign oil stability and strength in the job market and economy should return.
Currently, Cape wind is undergoing an extensive and comprehensive environmental review by seventeen federal and state agencies in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. A final decision is expected in the near future, and if the project is approved wind technology should gain some substantial momentum in helping to propel us into a greener future.
Patrick,
You should get all your facts straight before you write. The cost of the project is well of 1 billion dollars. The height of the tubines are 440 feet not 260. The project will be only 5.2 miles from shore not 16. There will also be a 10 story electric service platform that will hold 40,000 gallons of oil in the middle of the turbine field that you forgot to mention.
Timmy,
You are absolutely correct, the project will be located 5.2 miles from the shore. I must have somehow mixed that up with the diameter measurement. The height of the turbines I was referring to was the height of the tower itself and not the height from the base of the tower to the tip of the blades, which I definitely should have specified. I could not find the cost of the project on Cape Wind’s site itself so I must have used an outdated or incorrect source. After some research I discovered that the cost of the project has been somewhat unclear. About seven years ago it was estimated to cost about $700 million, but the cost has since risen. Most recently, about 18 months ago, Cape Wind estimated it to cost about $1.6 billion. Given the trend it’s not unlikely that it will continue to rise and a $2 billion estimate is not unreasonable. You are also correct in noting that there will be a service platform to hold 40,000 gallons of mineral oil. There are many aspects to the project besides what I have mentioned, but I was merely trying to give a general idea of the project and its direction. Thank you for the feedback, I’ll be sure to be more thorough in the future.