As stated by the project manager of the U.S. based Deepwater Wind company, Bryan Wilson, the company has submitted plans on a cable connecting Block Islandand the mainland to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Block Island Times informed.
The project, which could become the first offshore wind farm in the United States, located within three miles of the southeast side of the island would have 30-megawatt capacity.
It is now up to the federal Bureau to review and evaluate the portion of the submarine cable that crosses through federal waters between the island and the mainland.
The town’s planning and zoning boards approved a substation connecting the wind farm to the island, and the island to the mainland; however it still remains for the Town Council to lease land for construction of the substation, which also needs to be agreed with the Block Island Power Company (BIPCo).
The wind farm construction, planned to begin in 2013 is said to be located entirely in Rhode Island state waters, having 100,000 megawatt hours generation capacity per annum and thus supplying the majority of Block Island’s electricity needs. Excess power would be exported to the mainland via the bi-directional Block Island Transmission System.
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Offshore WIND staff, May 01, 2012; Image: Deepwater Wind