Earth Equity News

New York State Seeking Offshore Wind Developers for Great Lakes. Reuters, December 1, 2009. "New York State is looking for developers to build wind farms on its Great Lakes that could generate 120 to 500 megawatts of power to boost the amount of electricity that comes from renewable sources by 2015. The New York Power Authority would buy all the power generated from the offshore projects, which could be located in either Lake Erie or Lake Ontario. Offshore wind power costs about twice as much as land-based wind projects, according to industry estimates. Offshore wind farms cost about $4 million per megawatt if no interest accrued during construction. However, typically offshore wind farms can generate more power. Five firms are studying the Great Lakes wind project, which was first proposed in April. A combined cycle natural gas plant, which does produce carbon dioxide, meanwhile costs just about $1 million a megawatt... New York's renewable portfolio standard requires 25% of its electricity come from renewable sources by 2013, while the governor set a goal of 45% of the state's power come from energy efficiency and renewable resources by 2015.... New York already has more than 1,200 MW of wind power capacity, most of which was built over the past year or so in part to capture substantial federal and state incentives."