Google invest in offshore wind energy transmission lines

NY Times:

Google and a New York financial firm have each agreed to invest heavily in a proposed $5 billion transmission backbone for future offshore wind farms along the Atlantic Seaboard that could ultimately transform the region’s electrical map.

The 350-mile underwater spine, which could remove some critical obstacles to wind power development, has stirred excitement among investors, government officials and environmentalists who have been briefed on it.

Google and Good Energies, an investment firm specializing in renewable energy, have each agreed to take 37.5 percent of the equity portion of the project. They are likely to bring in additional investors, which would reduce their stakes.

If they hold on to their stakes, that would come to an initial investment of about $200 million apiece in the first phase of construction alone, said Robert L. Mitchell, the chief executive of Trans-Elect, the Maryland-based transmission-line company that proposed the venture.

Marubeni, a Japanese trading company, has taken a 10 percent stake. Trans-Elect said it hoped to begin construction in 2013.

Several government officials praised the idea underlying the project as ingenious, while cautioning that they could not prejudge the specifics.

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Hopefully the projects want be thwarted by objections from Kennedy's who don't want their view spoiled or environmentalist who worry about putting birdies in a blender. Then there is the military concern that these offshore wind turbines make radar detection more difficult.

Wind is not a particularly efficient form of energy and it is inconsistent. If the deal goes forward there will need to be an investment in natural gas to cover the down time when the wind is not blowing.