In an announcement that could jump-start offshore wind development along the Atlantic seaboard, Google and investment firms Good Energies, New York, and Marubeni Corp., Tokyo, said Oct. 12 that they are backing the development of a 350-mile underwater high-voltage DC transmission line from of Northern New Jersey to Norfolk, Va.
The line, being developed by Chevy Chase, Md.�based Trans-Elect, would provide a transmission backbone linking several different offshore wind farms off the coasts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, and add up to 6,000 MW to the Atlantic grid from wind farms. Construction of the first phase of the line, from northern New Jersey to Rehoboth Beach, Del., is estimated to begin in 2013, cost $1.3 billion and be complete by 2016. The total project, in five segments, is expected to cost more than $5 billion and would be complete sometime after 2020.