The Cape Wind Project (Project), now midway through its second decade of planning without a single turbine standing, encountered another hurdle when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a multipart decision that agreed with two out of three claims environmental groups have made against the Project. Importantly, the court said the Project would not need to be brought to a halt while the outstanding issues were resolved.
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Unveiled by Energy Management Inc. (EMI) in 2001, the Project, expected to be the first offshore wind farm in the nation, would produce 130 wind turbine generators in the Horseshoe Shoal region of Nantucket Sound. The turbines have an estimated life span of 20 years and, during that time, are expected to generate up to three-quarters of the electricity needs for Cape Cod and the surrounding islands. The Project’s “underlying purpose” is to help the region achieve Massachusetts’ renewable energy requirements, which “mandate that a certain amount of electricity come from renewable energy sources, such as wind.”