Deepwater Wind announced that it has submitted its final state and federal permit application for the Block Island wind farm on 02 October, 2012. The company said the construction of this 30 megawatt (MW) project will be started at early 2014. The construction of the project will require around $250 million which represents US's first offshore facility, according to the CEO of Deepwater Wind, William Moore.
Deepwater Wind is the company which helps to develop large-scale offshore wind projects in the north-eastern region of US. In 2008, the company was declared as successful developer when it completed the construction of wind power plant offshore Rhode Island which offers around 1.3 megawatts of renewable energy which contributes to around 15% electricity used in the country.
The company has invested over $7 million privately in the Block Island wind farm project. Experts like ecologists and biologists, skilled in marine mammal, avian and species of fishes along with their habitats; electrical civil; terrestrial and marine archeologists; architects; structural, acoustic and marine engineers; statisticians; wetlands scientists and many others participated in this project. The company is taking significant efforts to make this project successful by the involvement of all these experts.
This project of Deepwater will be costing more than $4 million and will include around 200 turbines connected through cables to New York as well as New England. The company has also taken efforts like collection of data from survey vehicles, airplanes and vehicles which are remotely operated on the sea shore. It also operated advanced avian radar system on the Block Island and also conducted field investigations on the mainland and Block Island.
Five Siemens 6-MW turbines will be powering the project and will be generating electricity for at least 10,000 homes in Rhodes Island. UK power company National Grid PLC's US unit will buy power for its Rhode Island customers from the Block Island wind farm. The company started boosting in the offshore wind farm development projects after the Rhode Island selected this in-stated Providence-based company for its wind farm project.
Since Rhode Island had concluded that the wind farm project must be a part of its energy project, it is considered to be the first offshore wind project. But now it is expected that Block Island will be the first offshore wind farm project of US. While Energy Management Inc., a private New England power company is still hoping that the Cape Wind Project of 420MW in Massachusetts will be the first offshore project of the nation. Block Island project will be a bigger project of Deepwater which will be extending up to three miles southeast of Block Island.
Deepwater has taken great efforts for its Block Island project and its final permitting process is expected to be completed by 2013. After the company succeeds in this bigger project, it will gain popularity as the best offshore wind farm developer in the nation.