New England Energy Provider to Buy Power From Nation’s First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Farm

Scroby Sands Wind Farm, England. Photo courtesy of offshore-power.net.

As part of the nation’s continuing move to harness renewable energies that are both environmentally safe and cost-effective, National Grid - an energy supplier to about 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New York - has entered into an agreement with Cape Wind to purchase 50 percent of its output.

Cape Wind is a 468 megawatt offshore wind project planned for Nantucket Sound and is expected to go online by the end of 2012. The project is being developed by Energy Management Inc., a New England-based energy company.

Under the terms of the contract - filed this week with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities - beginning in 2013, National Grid plans to purchase 50 percent of the wind farm’s output, including electricity, renewable energy certificates (tradable energy commodities), and other potential market attributes for 20.7 cents per kilowatt hours.

Based on its forecasts of what customers will pay for electricity in 2013, National Grid projects this translate to a total monthly bill increase of $1.59, roughly two percent per month.

“We recognize that all renewable energy, be it on-or-off shore wind, solar or other source has a cost associated with it. Carbon-based generation comes with its own set of long-term costs, such as to our health and our environment,” said Tom King, president of National Grid.

Mr. King added that if future federal energy or climate change legislation includes a price for carbon emissions, Cape Wind could have a significant advantage because it is a low-carbon generator.

This though is very little consolation to the numerous groups that have been trying for the past several years to stop the Cape Wind project from getting into the water.

Late last month, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar approved the project, though also stipulating that the developer to agree to additional binding measures to minimize the potential of damaging impacts on the environment from the construction and operation of the facility.

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. Photo courtesy of Boston.com.

Cape Wind has been approved for a permit to construct its wind energy project on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket, which will include the construction and operation of 130 wind turbines. The project will also include a 66.5 mile buried submarine transmission cable system, a centrally located electric service platform, and two 115-kilovolt lines (totaling 25 miles) connecting to the mainland power grid.

“The Cape Wind project would be the first wind farm on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, generating enough power to meet 75 percent of the electricity demand for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket Island combined.

“After careful consideration of all the concerns expressed during the lengthy review and consultation process and thorough analysis of the many factors involved, I find that the public benefits weigh in favor of approving the Cape Wind project at the Horseshoe Shoal location,” said Mr. Salazar as part of an announcement at the Sate House in Boston.

Among those opposed the project are that Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (Mashpee).

Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head. Photo by Vincent Frye.

The Advisory expressed concerns to the Interior in official comments that said, “The project will adversely affect the viewshed of all 28 above ground historic properties (including the Nantucket Historical District and the Kennedy Compound), and six traditional properties of the Aquinnah, and the Mashpee.”

The Advisory also complained that “construction of the project will have an additional direct adverse effect on the Nantucket Sound seabed,” worrying that “there is the potential for undiscovered submerged archeological sites and archeological materials.”

In response, Mr. Salazar said, “because of concerns expressed during the consultations (with various groups), the Interior has required the developer to change the design and configuration of the wind turbine farm to diminish the visual effects of the project and to conduct additional seabed surveys to ensure that any submerged archeological resources are protected prior to bottom disturbing activities.”

To address concerns, the Interior has required a number of revisions to the plan, including “reconfiguring the array to move it farther away from Nantucket Island and reducing the breadth to mitigate visibility from the Nantucket Historic District.

“Regarding possible seabed cultural and historic resources, a ‘chance finds’ clause in the (project) lease requires the developer to halt operations and notify the Interior of any anticipated archeological find.”

Despite these concessions, both of the affected Wampanoag tribes plan to try to overturn the Interior’s decision. The Aquinnah released a statement saying, “We are very disappointed with Secretary Salazar’s decision to proceed with the Cape Wind project. The tribe has no choice but to explore all of its options for relief from the decision, including injunctive relief.”

The cultural practices of the tribes include the requirement of an uninterrupted view across Nantucket Sound of the rising eastern sun as part of their religious rituals.

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