USA First Offshore Wind Farm Lacks Buyers

The nation’s first wind farm, planned off Cape Cod, Mass., fought a bruising battle for approval. Now, it faces another challenge in selling its power.

The 130-turbine Cape Wind project has sealed a deal with the utility National Grid for half its power. But the other half is available with no apparent takers — raising the prospect of more costly power from a smaller project.

The most obvious second customer for Cape Wind is the utility NStar. But NStar says it’s confident it can find sufficient, cheaper renewable power elsewhere.

National Grid is buying Cape Wind’s power starting at 18.7 cents per kilowatt hour, twice what it pays now for power from fossil fuels. But regulators say Cape Wind is a good deal and would serve as a large source of badly needed clean power.

By Jay Lindsay (canadianbusiness)

[mappress]

Source: canadianbusiness, December 21, 2010