Plan for big offshore wind farm passes hurdle

By Jason Szep

BOSTON (Reuters) - A controversial plan to build the first large U.S. offshore wind-power farm won approval from Massachusetts authorities on Friday but still must clear federal regulatory hurdles.

Cape Wind Associates LLC, a privately funded Boston-based energy company, has proposed constructing 130 wind turbines over 24 square miles in Nantucket Sound, within view of the wealthy Cape Cod resort region of Massachusetts.

The project, which would meet the energy needs of some 400,000 homes, "adequately and properly complies" with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, said the state environmental affairs secretary, Ian Bowles.

The wind farm would consistently generate 170 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 75 percent of Cape Cod and the nearby islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. At its peak, the wind farm could generate more than 400 megawatts.

Its supporters, including Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, say the project would save millions of dollars in energy costs and help the United States reduce its reliance on foreign oil at a time of high crude prices.

"We have work to do as we build a clean energy economy -- let's get on with it," said Patrick, a Democrat.

Opponents -- including some Massachusetts politicians and business leaders with homes on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket -- say Cape Wind's 247-foot-tall (75-metre-tall) turbines would kill migrating birds and could threaten the region's lucrative tourist industry.

The lead federal agency needed to approve the project is the Minerals Management Service, a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf. Cape Wind expects a decision from MMS in early 2008.