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Long Island offshore wind farm scuttled; Cape Wind predicted this outcome 4 years ago

Sea conditions matter when planning an offshore wind farm
Cape Wind developers predicted this outcome over four years ago.

By Walter Brooks, 

Yesterday Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Chairman Kevin Law confirmed his decision to cancel a 40-turbine offshore wind farm 3 ½ miles offshore Jones Beach, “It’s not going to work…This is an economically based decision.”  Cost estimates for the project had grown substantially.

“The only way Cape Wind will get financed and built is if it provides economic benefits to electricity consumers”
- Cape WindIt turns out that the Cape Wind developers actually predicted this outcome for the Long Island offshore project over four years ago.

“Originally we were interested in responding to LIPA on their project”, said Mark Rodgers, Communications Director of Cape Wind.  “We invested considerable staff time closely studying it for four months but at the end of that process instead of submitting a proposal we sent them a letter explaining why their project was not economically feasible.”

Cape Wind's letter to LIPA in 2003

In a letter obtained by Cape Cod Today, Cape Wind President Jim Gordon wrote to LIPA on April 28, 2003 which concluded that he had, “…determined that the anticipated sea conditions in the Target Area pose unacceptable conditions.  Both the significant wave and extreme storm wave are nearly three times that associated with current state-of-the-art offshore wind projects.  After considerable analysis and discussion, we have concluded that we can not develop an economic and financeable project responsive to the RFP.”

Sea conditions matter in any offshore project

Rodgers points out that when it comes to finding an offshore wind site – sea conditions matter, “Today’s news confirms our assessment from four years ago and underscores why Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound is the perfect site for America’s first offshore wind farm.”  Rodgers continued, “Unlike the Long Island site, Horseshoe Shoal is protected from the open North Atlantic storm wave and the site is also shallower.”

Delahunt's site equally dangerous

Cape Wind and wind farm advocates at Clean Power Now see this as further proof that the “South of Tuckernuck” offshore wind site outside of Nantucket Sound that has become the darling of Congressman Delahunt and the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound will be commercially unfeasible for decades. 

Rodgers said, “The sea conditions south of the Islands are, if anything, even harsher than where the LIPA project was proposed, this is another reality check that if you want to maximize economic and environmental benefits with offshore wind look for a shallow and protected site.”

Alliance gets it wrong again

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound circulated a press release about the cancellation of the LIPA project saying it “Calls [the] Cape Wind Project into question”.  The Alliance press release stated, “While Cape Wind once claimed their project would save $25 million annually, or 10 cents per month per New England household, they have failed to disclose their project’s overall financials.”

Chuck Kleekamp observed that the cost of new electric power projects from all sources were increasing because of the rising commodity prices of steel and copperBeyond the Cape Wind v. Alliance ongoing debate, the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board found that the wind farm would indeed reduce wholesale electric costs by $25 Million per year – an assessment not made on project capital costs but by an analysis of the wholesale electric market where the price of electricity is driven by fuel costs.

Rodgers answered the Alliance’s call for disclosing project finances by saying, “The only way Cape Wind will get financed and built is if it provides economic benefits to electricity consumers.”

Clean Power Now Board Vice President Chuck Kleekamp observed that the cost of new electric power projects from all sources were increasing because of the rising commodity prices of steel and copper.