Google Invests In Offshore Wind Turbine Project

From DailyTech: Google has signed an agreement to financially assist the establishment of a backbone transmission project that will further progress offshore wind development off the Mid-Atlantic coast. The project, which is called the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) backbone, is financed by Google, Marubeni Coprporation and Good Energies. It will be led by Trans-Elect, which is an independent transmission company.

The AWC backbone is a huge design covering 350 miles off the coast from New Jersey to Virginia. It will connect 6,000 megawatts of offshore wind turbines, which is comparable to 60 percent of the wind energy installed throughout the entire United States last year. This amount of power is capable of providing for 1.9 million homes.

To collect this kind of power, the AWC backbone will draw power from several offshore wind farms and then deliver it to high capacity parts of the land-based transmission system via sub-sea cables.

The AWC backbone will assist states in meeting their renewable energy goals and standards by installing turbines 10 to 15 miles offshore where they are out of sight from land and are able to take advantage of heavier winds. The project is specifically advantageous to the east coast because transmission is overstretched in this area, and "relieves grid congestion" in one of the National Interest Transmission Corridors. The AWC backbone also prevents developers from having to install individual radial transmission lines from the shore to each offshore wind project, saving both time and money.

In addition to environmental benefits, Google sees the AWC backbone as an opportunity that will offer "a solid financial return" and will create thousands of jobs.

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