Gov't OKs 1st US offshore wind farm, off Mass.

Secretary Ken Salazar will announce the decision to grant federal permits for the long-delayed Cape Wind project, which will place 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will make the announcement Wednesday about the nation's first offshore wind farm, off Cape Cod, in Boston with Gov. Deval Patrick, a supporter of the project. A green light for the project would clear the way for a 130-turbine wind farm in Nantucket Sound.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Oilprice.com submits: By Darrell DelamaideThe Obama administration approved the controversial Cape Wind project, which calls for a wind farm of 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound and will be the first offshore wind project in the country.Complete Story »

A whole new way of generating electricity in the U.S. drew a big step closer to reality Wednesday, and it could look like this: 130 windmills, 440 feet tall, rising from the ocean a few miles off Cape Cod.

The US government on Tuesday approved a plan to build the country's first offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod, a popular Massachusetts holiday destination.Installation of 130, 3.6-megawatt wind turbine generators with blades of up to 440 feet (134 meters), built by German company Siemens, could begin in Nantucket Sound by the autumn, the Department of the Interior said in a statement announcing that the Cape Wind Project was finally going ahead.

After nine years of review, the approval of a 130-turbine farm off the coast of Cape Cod gives a significant boost to the nascent offshore wind industry in the U.S.