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Cape Wind Project

Cape Wind Project. By: Roger Rivera. Annual Wind Power Resource. Location. In A Glance. Company History Project Information Energy benefits Economic Benefits Comparisons Environmental Impact Effects on Cape Cod Opinions Conclusion. Company History.

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Cape Wind Project

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  1. Cape Wind Project By: Roger Rivera

  2. Annual Wind Power Resource

  3. Location

  4. In A Glance • Company History • Project Information • Energy benefits • Economic Benefits • Comparisons • Environmental Impact • Effects on Cape Cod • Opinions • Conclusion

  5. Company History • Cape Wind Associates: Partnership between Energy Management Inc. and Wind Management, LLC. • Energy Management Inc.: In 1975, began developing energy conservation and pollution control projects for institutional and industrial facilities. • Has successfully developed six natural gas fired electric generation projects • In 1999, EMI sold its natural gas fired power projects to focus on developing wind power projects. • Wind Management, LLC: formed in 2000 by two UPC, one of Europe’s most prestigious wind project developers, directors. Over the past five years, UPC has designed, financed, built, and operated some of the world’s largest wind energy projects. • Environmental Science Services (ESS) of Massachusetts will be the environmental specialist for the project.

  6. Project Info. • The Cape Wind Project will be the first off-shore wind farm in the United States. • It will be built on Horseshoe Shoal, five miles off the Cape Codshore in Massachusetts. • The Shoal has strong, consistent winds; is located in protected shallow water (low wave height); has close proximity to landfall and electrical interconnections; and is out of way of shipping lanes and commercial boating traffic. • Project construction, set to begin in Spring of 2004, is expected to take about eighteen months to complete. • Estimated to be completed in 2005. • Expected costs range from $500 million to $700 million.

  7. At peak output the project will produce enough electricity to power more than ahalf million homes—offsetting up to 113 million gallons of imported oil a year. • Each tower will produce about 8772 MWh per year. • The wind park will consist of 170 wind turbines, spread over an area of approximately five by five miles. • Each foundation will be between five and six and a half meters across and will weigh between 250 and 350 tons. • Depending on the specific seabed conditions, the foundations will be driven approximately 85 feet into the sea bed. • The Cape Wind project will utilize tubular steel towers that result in an overall hub height of 262 feet above mean sea level and which are secured onto a single foundation. • The tower and foundation system are designed to withstand high winds, earthquakes, high waves, ice, and other damaging elements. • The slender supporting towers will be painted to blend in with the horizon, making them nearly invisible from the shore on all but the clearest days. • Each tower will have internal access via ladders and platforms.

  8. Energy Benefits • The project will supply energy for about a quarter of a million homes per year. • A leading electric economic consulting firm (La Capra Associates) estimates the Cape Wind park will save New England more than $800 million in energy costs over the next two decades.

  9. Projected savings of approximately $25 million per year for the New England area. • Early on, residents will only save about $.10- $.30 per bill (per household). • Since 1970, the usage of electricity in New England has doubled. • By the end of the decade experts predict that New England will require 17% more electricity. • Massachusetts encourages the use of renewable energy. In passing the 1997 Electrical Industry Restructuring Act, the state requires investment in new renewable energy generating plants. • The Act requires that by the end of the decade these new sources account for 4% of the electricity—in addition to the current level of renewable energy sources. • The Cape Wind project—as one of the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives—offers the best route towards meeting this objective • This project will allow New England residents to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. If the project is successful, maybe our government will open its eyes and realize that it is time for a change. ** If you want to understand more on how the projected savings were calculated, visit: http://www.capewind.org/learning/elect02.htm

  10. Economic Benefits • Spending with local firms and institutions on environmental and construction studies. • High-paying construction jobs, which will boost the local economy. • Year-round jobs to monitor, operate, and maintain the wind park. • New tourismopportunities for local marinas and businesses. • Charter fishing boats, sailboat tours, and scenic cruises may include the wind park as part of their Cape experience. The wind park, like so many world-wide, can become a new eco-tourism destination. * In the resort community of Palm Springs, CA, over 10,000 visitors tour the nearby wind farm each year. • ** “As the major marine contractor in the New England region, the work for this project affords us an exciting opportunity while providing a product of substantial benefit to the region.” Jay M. Cashman Jay Cashman, Inc. (Boston, MA)

  11. Which Would You Pick? • The Cape Wind Project will produce 1.5 x 10^9 KWh per year. • It will be able to provide enough energy for about a quarter of a million people. • Wind power does not produce any pollutants, and does not harm the environment. • An average Power Plant (Coal) produces about 5 x 10^9 KWh per year. • It can provide enough energy for about one million people. • A Power Plant releases numerous pollutants into the environment, and runs on our endless supply of fossil fuels (sarcasm)!

  12. Environmental Impact (Tons/year)

  13. Pollutant Effects

  14. Effects on Cape Cod • Minimal Impact on Fishing (Recreational and Commercial): The towers will be spaced at least a 1/3 mile to a 1/2 mile apart, allowing most commercial fishing vessels to navigate without obstruction. • Based upon recent studies, as well as previous studies in Denmark, it is believed that Birds will not be greatly affected by the wind farm, since birds are more likely to die by flying into an electric line, than by flying into a wind turbine. • Modern wind turbine design includes three characteristics that make them safer for birds: • The sleek towers do not use guy wires (several support wires coming off the tower to the ground). Guy wires have been a significant problem for birds encountering towers because they are very difficult for the birds to see. • The design of Cape Wind’s turbines will not offer birds potential perching or nesting places that older wind turbines did. • The turbine blades will rotate slowly. Cape Wind’s turbine blades will take between four and five seconds to complete one rotation.

  15. Because the wind park uses a negligible fraction of the area of Horseshoe Shoal, the loss of habitat and direct impact to marine mammals and threatened/endangered species will be minimal. • The most common ocean mammals in Nantucket Sound are seals. Extensive studies of the Bockstigen wind farm off the shore of Sweden found no adverse impact to the abundant local seal population there. In fact, seals have been regularly observed sunning themselves on rocks near the wind farm. • Benthic organisms include those animals that live on or beneath the seabed floor, such as worms, insects, small clams and other macro invertebrates. Based on comprehensive field investigations, previous studies of Nantucket Sound, and agency consultations, the impact to benthic organisms from construction activity will be localized, temporary, and short-term. • Based on a study by Ocean Surveys, Inc. and ESSI, it can be said that the installation and construction methods will have minimal impact to the ocean floor. Any dispersion of sediment during construction will be short term. • Technological progress in turbine design has made modern, commercial wind turbines much quieter than older models. Modern wind turbines are also much quieter than powerboats. To be able to hear Cape Wind, you would have to get in a boat and travel fairly close to the turbines.

  16. Projected Views

  17. Public Opinion “A battle of significant proportions is now being fought over a 420MW project proposed for a site off Cape Cod nearly a year ago. On the one side is a group of America’s elite- apparently convinced that their privileged life styles are under serious threat; on the other side, a building groundswell of popular support for America’s first offshore wind farm, based on the growing realization that a viable solution to America’s dependence on polluting forms of energy supply can safely be placed close to major centers of population, but more or less out of sight. History suggests that it will be this popular mandate for change that prevails over wealth, influence and a worrying level of ignorance.” Lyn HarrisonEditor, Windpower Monthly September 2002 New Poll finds strong public support for Cape Wind project October 3, 2002 Yarmouth Port, MA – “A public opinion poll released today finds that voters on Cape Cod and the Islands who favor the Cape Wind project outnumber those who oppose it by a tally of 55% to 35%. Statewide, voters who favor the Cape Wind project outnumber those who are opposed by a margin of nearly 3 to 1.”

  18. Ongoing Events • Project received approval on August 19, 2002 to begin building a Wind Data Tower on Horseshoe Shoal. • Data Tower will run for one year to record accurate wind data for the area. • Based on the findings, the wind turbines will be built in the areas where the average wind power is the greatest. • TODAY: • Data Tower is being constructed (work began on October 21, 2002) • Collecting data for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). - Gives the public information on the environmental influences of the project - National Environmental Policy Act(NEPA) requires for the EIS to be handed in before project begins * First Draft  February 2003 ???

  19. Conclusion By Janet L. Sawin, Ph.D. Energy Policy Specialist for Greenpeace USA “The Proposed Cape Wind windfarm project, planned for Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound, could break new ground in giving Americans what they want – clean energy now. A recent Gallup poll found that 91 percent of Americansfavor investments in new energy sources such as solar and wind power. At home and abroad, leaders are calling for a transition to a new energy economy, one based on renewable energy and more efficient technologies to meet our future energy needs, increase national security, and avoid catastrophic climate change. Offshore wind power will play a critical role in moving our nation toward a secure energy future. The Cape Wind project will bring added benefits to eastern Massachusetts, including cleaner air and water, improved health, jobs, millions of dollars in investment, and the potential for greater tourism and fishing opportunities.” “Wind power is the fastest growing energy source in the world, with global wind energy capacity doubling every three years…Over the past 20 years, wind energy performance has improved dramatically, while costs have declined by 90 percent. Wind generated electricity is now cost-competitive with fossil fuels in good wind sites, and far cheaper than nuclear power. This, despite the fact that fossil fuels and nuclear power receive billions of dollars annually in U.S. government handouts – many times more than all renewable energy technologies combined.” “Overall, the benefits of safe, clean, sustainable, home-grown wind power far outweigh its costs. If we hope to protect human health, stop further droughts, heat waves, or the disappearance of winter as we know it in New England, we must develop our renewable energy resources as rapidly as possible. The Cape Wind project could mark the beginning of a major energy transformation that will improve the quality of life, health, environment and security for all Americans.”

  20. THE END * Most of the information and data in this presentation was taken from www.capewind.org and www.windpower.org

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