On May 10, the U.S. Dept. of Energy sent a letter to Cape Wind stating that the agency had put on hold a loan guarantee application for the 130-wind-turbine farm development, submitted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“They’ve run out of funds for the current fiscal year, but we’re working hard to make sure the project moves forward,” says Mark Rodgers, spokesman for Cape Wind. “If the DOE plays a role, that’s great, but if that’s not possible, then we will finance the project commercially,” he says. Rodgers says he expects Barclays Capital, as financial advisors for Cape Wind, will arrange for its financial package with other parties.

Cape Wind is now finalizing its contract with Erlangen, Germany-based Siemens to supply wind turbines and will soon select its general contractor for building the facility, Rodgers says.

Erich Stephens, vice president at Offshore MW, which is planning a 700 MW farm near Bringantine, N.J., says Offshore MW and the Martha’s Vineyard Power Coop look forward to working with ECO Fab as it moves forward with Massachusetts’s second offshore wind farm. Offshore MW is the sister company of WindMW, which is building a 288-MW offshore wind project in the German North Sea.

Matt DaPrato, North American wind energy analyst for IHS Emerging Energy Research, Boston, says the joint venture’s decision to partner with EEW is a way of building up expertise in offshore foundations and pipes, currently lacking among U.S. suppliers.

IHS forecasts 5.6 GW in offshore wind power construction through 2025 in the U.S. with a majority coming online on the East Coast from New England to Virginia.