U.S.
A Rhode Island firm became the provisional winner of a competitive federal auction for offshore wind-energy rights Wednesday, the first auction of its kind in the United States.
Deepwater Wind, based in Providence, made the highest bid of $3.8 million, besting eight other competitors. The wind farm, off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, could support enough electricity to power more than one million homes, estimates U.S. Department of Energy.
The area was auctioned as two leases, about 10 miles off shore between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard. In addition to its winning bid, Deepwater Wind previously paid a $900,000 deposit to participate in the auction, and will pay the federal government annual payments of $500,000 for the location.
In total, the area encompasses roughly 165,000 acres of sea and could potentially generate 3.4 million watts of electricity.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is part of the Department of Interior, oversaw the auction. Currently, there are no off-shore wind farms in the United States, but several are under construction.
Unlike previous wind-power projects, where companies have approached federal authorities for rights to build turbines, the government solicited bids from several companies, including Deepwater Wind, for rights to the seafloor.
According to the Boston Globe, construction on turbines will begin in 2018 at the earliest, barring any legal challenges or other delays. The leases are 25 years long.
“Today we are moving closer to tapping into the enormous potential offered by offshore wind to create jobs, increase our sustainability, and strengthen our nation’s competitiveness in this new energy frontier,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewel said in a statement announcing the lease offer.
“As we experience record domestic oil and gas development, we are also working to ensure that America leads the world in developing the energy of the future,” she added.
Block Island, near where the lease is located, already approved a plan for a separate group of turbines proposed by Deepwater Wind late last year and is going through the permit process in Rhode Island.
This separate wind farm would help to reduce by half the amount of money Block Islanders pay for their electricity, Stephanie Turaj, a reporter for the Block Island Times, told Al Jazeera.
The vacation spot has a year-round population of around 1,000 people, but that amount triples during the summer, Turaj said.
Set come on line in 2015, the proposed wind farm sparked heated debates among islanders and was narrowly approved by a three-to-two vote on the island's council.
"There was a large backlash. It's been one of the more controversial issues on the island," Turaj said.
A group called Deepwater Resistance formed a political action committee in July to oppose the proposed route of the electric cable that would come onto Block Island from the turbine.
“If Deepwater doesn’t change the plans, we’re going to really go into high gear and mobilize public opinion,” Robert Shields, a resident of the island, told the Block Island Times.
Another batch of wind farms off the coast of Cape Cod, approved by the federal government in 2012, has been met with lawsuits and fierce opposition from residents of the vacation spot.
Opponents of the wind turbines in Nantucket Sound say the constructions will harm birds and spoil the area’s natural beauty.
“Its size and location would make it a major threat to the safety of air and sea travel in and around Nantucket Sound,” one group, Save our Sound, argues on its website. “Further, it would devastate commercial fishing in the sound, desecrate a national treasure and sacred tribal lands, and threaten endangered birds and marine mammals.”
Wind farms on land in states including Maine, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have prompted complaints and lawsuits from nearby residents due to noise and vibrations from the turbines.
The world’s first offshore wind farms were constructed off the coast of Denmark in 1991.
The Department of Interior is slated to hold another auction in September for wind turbines off the coast of Virginia.
Wilson Dizard contributed to this report. Al Jazeera and wire services
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