US' 468-MW Cape Wind project sees end of legal battles soon - report

Oct 23, 2013 - The firm behind the 468-MW Cape Wind project off Massachusetts is hoping to resolve all remaining legal battles soon in order to start construction before end-2013 and get a key incentive, Bloomberg said Tuesday.

The business news provider quoted the vice president of Cape Wind Associates LLC as saying that the company expects to have the needed court decisions on the last two appeals in place this autumn. Dennis Duffy said that at the Offshore Windpower 2013 event organised by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) in Rhode Island.

The offshore wind project has to enter the construction phase before the end of 2013 in order to qualify for the US government’s investment tax credit (ITC) that covers up to 30% of the capital cost of wind farms. Also, reaching the final investment decision on the project by the end of the year is a key condition set by PensionDanmark for investing into it USD 200 million (EUR 145m) in the form of a mezzanine loan.

The 130-turbine wind farm in Nantucket Sound, worth USD 2.6 billion, was proposed by US company Energy Management Inc. Cape Wind Associates is a joint venture of Energy Management and First Wind Energy LLC. Although the huge project received the US government's nod in 2010, the project has faced delays due to considerable opposition on environmental concerns and difficulties in securing funding.

Cape Wind has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Nstar, a unit of Northeast Utilities (NYSE:NU), and with UK utility National Grid (LON:NG) in Massachusetts.

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