01/14/2009
USA - Rhode Island signs pact for off-shore wind farm
Governor Carcieri today announced that the state has signed a joint development agreement with Deepwater Wind Rhode Island outlining the terms and conditions for the construction of an off-shore wind energy development.
The $1.5-billion project is expected to generate 1.3 million megawatt hours per year of renewable energy, or 15 percent of all electricity used in the state. The project will be privately funded.
Construction is slated to begin in late 2010.
"This agreement sets the stage for Rhode Island to be the leader in the emerging renewable energy industry in the Northeast, and brings us one step closer to increasing our use of renewable sources to generate 20 percent of our electricity needs," Carcieri said in a statement released this morning. "With this agreement, we have set a clear timetable for the development including the construction of a major manufacturing facility at Quonset, bringing an estimated 800 high quality jobs to Rhode Island."
"We see this as a game changing solution to Rhode Island's energy future," said Michael Saul, interim executive director of the Economic Development Corporation.
"Deepwater Wind's presence in Rhode Island will be a catalyst to attract additional jobs in the renewable energy sector and position our state as a leader in renewable energy efforts," Saul said.
Watch a video explaining construction of the wind farm.
Under the agreement, Deepwater Wind will receive preferred developer status, allowing the company first choice of approved sites for the placement and construction of the project.
Approved locations will be determined through the Coastal Resources Management Council's Special Area Management Plan (SAMP).
Deepwater Wind is to establish a regional development office in Rhode Island within 120 days, execute a lease option on land at the Quonset Development Corporation for the construction of a major manufacturing facility to build the support structures on which the turbine and its tower will be based.
The agreement identifies two major construction phases:
- Phase one will be a 20-megawatt project to be built in state waters. Construction is expected to begin in late 2010 and be completed in June 2012.
- In Phase two, Deepwater Wind will construct a separate utility-scale project capable of producing 1.3 million megawatt-hours per year within three years of approval of Deepwater Wind's submerged federal lands lease application to the federal Mineral Management Service, a division of the Department of the Interior.
The $1.5-billion project is expected to generate 1.3 million megawatt hours per year of renewable energy, or 15 percent of all electricity used in the state. The project will be privately funded.
Construction is slated to begin in late 2010.
"This agreement sets the stage for Rhode Island to be the leader in the emerging renewable energy industry in the Northeast, and brings us one step closer to increasing our use of renewable sources to generate 20 percent of our electricity needs," Carcieri said in a statement released this morning. "With this agreement, we have set a clear timetable for the development including the construction of a major manufacturing facility at Quonset, bringing an estimated 800 high quality jobs to Rhode Island."
"We see this as a game changing solution to Rhode Island's energy future," said Michael Saul, interim executive director of the Economic Development Corporation.
"Deepwater Wind's presence in Rhode Island will be a catalyst to attract additional jobs in the renewable energy sector and position our state as a leader in renewable energy efforts," Saul said.
Watch a video explaining construction of the wind farm.
Under the agreement, Deepwater Wind will receive preferred developer status, allowing the company first choice of approved sites for the placement and construction of the project.
Approved locations will be determined through the Coastal Resources Management Council's Special Area Management Plan (SAMP).
Deepwater Wind is to establish a regional development office in Rhode Island within 120 days, execute a lease option on land at the Quonset Development Corporation for the construction of a major manufacturing facility to build the support structures on which the turbine and its tower will be based.
The agreement identifies two major construction phases:
- Phase one will be a 20-megawatt project to be built in state waters. Construction is expected to begin in late 2010 and be completed in June 2012.
- In Phase two, Deepwater Wind will construct a separate utility-scale project capable of producing 1.3 million megawatt-hours per year within three years of approval of Deepwater Wind's submerged federal lands lease application to the federal Mineral Management Service, a division of the Department of the Interior.
- Source:
- Deepwater Wind
- Author:
- Posted by Trevor Sievert, Online Editorial Journalist
- Email:
- ts@windfair.net
- Link:
- www.windfair.net/...
- Keywords:
- wind energy, renewable energy, wind turbine, wind power, wind farm, rotorblade, onshore, offshore
