NEW SHOREHAM – Deepwater Wind LLC officials said Wednesday that they continue to plan for a maximum of eight turbines off the coast of Block Island, despite a preliminary proposal that shows the installation of a cable from the mainland with the capacity to handle far more turbines.
The implication that Deepwater wanted a higher-capacity cable to accommodate a larger wind farm than initially proposed left some Block Island residents at an energy task group meeting uneasy, according to the Block Island Times.
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On Wednesday Managing Director Jim Lanard said there were no plans to expand the wind farm proposed within state waters.
“The plans are absolutely not changing in any way,” Lanard said.
Also on Wednesday, Deepwater Wind Chief Development Officer Paul Rich said the 69kVa capacity cable remained just a proposal at this point. He said because questions about line loss and where the cable would connect have not been answered, the required capacity has not been determined. The number of wind turbines, he said, plays little role in the capacity requirement.
Both Lanard and Rich said the capacity of the cable would need to be sufficient to comply with requirements set down by National Grid and the New England electric grid. Rich noted that legislation passed earlier this year requires Deepwater to install a connection from the island to the mainland that is capable of handling at least a 10-megawatt load.
Rich said the New Jersey-based company is undertaking systems studies to determine what size cable is needed to meet that requirement and those from National Grid.
The farm of five to eight turbines off the coast of Block Island is separate from Deepwater’s proposal to build about 100 turbines 15 miles off the southern coast of Rhode Island. That farm would connect directly to the mainland and bypass Block Island.
