Isra-Mart srl:Cape Wind receives final government permits

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Isra-Mart srl news:

Work on America's first offshore wind farm looks set to get underway this year after the proposed Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound received its final two government permits.

Cape Wind announced on Friday that it had received a final planning permit from the US Environmental Protection Agency. The award came just a day after the US Army Corps of Engineers had similarly granted the project a Section 10 Permit, clearing the way for work on the facility to begin.

Initial planning permission was granted late last year by US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, following a series of legal challenges and a ruling that earlier plans for 170 wind turbines would have to be cut back to 130 turbines.

Cape Wind President Jim Gordon hailed the completion of the planning process as a major breakthrough for the proposed 468MW project.

"The receipt of Cape Wind's last permit approval represents a decade's effort of our company and 17 Federal and State agencies striving to harness America's abundant, inexhaustible offshore wind resource that will contribute to increasing our nation's energy independence, improving our health and environment and creating thousands of new clean energy jobs," he said. "American drive, competitiveness and ingenuity is entering the race with Europe and Asia for leadership in this burgeoning new global industry."

The company said it would now turn its attention to raising finance for the project.

Cape Wind agreed a power purchase deal with National Grid to deliver half of the electricity generated by the facility to the U-based grid operator. However, it will need to secure agreements for a higher proportion of the energy from the facility if it is to secure loans for the full project.

A spokesman for the company told the New York Time that talks were on-going with a number of energy firms about selling the remainder of the energy from the wind farm. He added that the company was confident that work would begin on electricity transmission infrastructure at the site late this year.