Yesterday the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, announced that after years of review, the U.S. has approved the construction of Cape Wind, which would be America’s first offshore wind farm. The project will consist of 130 Siemens turbines producing (at peak capacity) 420 MW of electricity- roughly half the production capacity of a modern nuclear power plant. It’s a serious project, in terms of scale, precedent, and politics. The Cape Wind project has been a divisive one drawing the support of many organizations, but also harsh criticism from some environmental groups, powerful families (e.g. the Kennedeys) with views of Nantucket Sound, and Native American tribes with ancestral claims to the region. The project is considered something of a bellwether for American off-shore wind projects, which Salazar cited as one of the reasons for its final approval.
The Cape Wind project would be the first of a number of proposed off-shore wind projects in the U.S. Not shown on this map is Evanston’s own proposed off-shore wind farm, since it is far from being a mature project. At Evanston’s city council meeting on April 13, Evanston’s Sustainable Programs Coordinator Carolyn Collopy gave a report on the proposed project, and the Council voted unanimously in approval of a request for information, which is essentially a feasibility study.
For some background information on wind power, please visit NETG's resources page on wind.
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