Cape Wind loan application on hold
North American Windpower, Offshore Wind supplement, Summer 2011
The DOE has notified Cape Wind LLC that its application for a loan guarantee cannot be completely processed by the program’s Sept. 30 deadline.
As a result, the application will be on hold until further resources can be made available to the loan-guarantee program, according to Cape Wind, which has proposed a 130 turbine project off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
“As a DOE loan guarantee would substantially reduce costs to Massachusetts electricity consumers, Cape Wind will continue to pursue the matter,” says Mark Rodgers, communications director for Cape Wind. “Cape Wind intends to secure project financing expeditiously so that the United States does not fall even further behind Europe and China, where governments have established offshore wind development as an important national priority worthy of support.”
In related news, NRG Bluewater Wind has delayed construction of a meteorological tower at its planned wind farm off the Delaware coast, according to a report in The News Journal (Del.), citing financial uncertainty due to the elimination of federal loan programs.
Congress recently eliminated two major loan-guarantee programs that have been critical to renewable energy projects, and the fate of the production tax credit – which is set to expire next year – is unknown.
In turn, the company – while still committed to the project – is slowly and cautiously approaching the development, Gaier said.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/07/10/cape-wind-loan-application-on-hold/