Cape Wind - Plans

Plans

The proposed project covers 24 square miles (62 km2), and would be 4.8 miles (7.7 km) from Mashpee, on the south coast of Cape Cod, and 15.8 miles (25.4 km) from the island town of Nantucket. The project envisions 130 horizontal-axis wind turbines, each having a hub height of 285 feet (87 m). The blade diameter is 364 feet (111 m), with the lowest blade tip height at 75 feet (23 m) and the top blade tip height at 440 feet (130 m). The turbines would be sited between 4–11 miles offshore depending on the shoreline. At peak generation, the turbines will generate 454 megawatts (MW). The project is expected to produce an average of 170 MW of electricity, about 75% of the average electricity demand for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket island combined. It could offset close to a million tons of carbon dioxide every year and should produce enough electricity to offset the consumption of 113 million US gallons (430,000 m3) of oil annually.

Currently 45% of the Cape region's electricity comes from the nearby Canal Generating Plant in Sandwich, which burns bunker oil and natural gas. The Cape Wind proposal is distinct in that it would directly offset petroleum combustion, unlike most of the United States where electrical power generation from oil is rare and power from coal, natural gas and nuclear is more common.

Additionally, this project would decrease the amount of oil shipped to the Canal Generating Plant; fuel for this plant has been part of two major oil spills. The first was on December 15, 1976, when the tanker Argo Merchant ran aground southeast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts spilling 7.7 million US gallons (29,000 m3) of oil. The second occurred in April 2003, when a Bouchard Company barge carrying oil for the Mirant Canal Generating Plant ran aground spilling 98,000 US gallons (370,000 L) of oil, which killed 450 birds and shut down 100,000 acres (400 km²) of shell fishing beds.