Alternatives Announced for Cape Wind

This press release,
Corps Announces Alternatives to Be Reviewed in Windfarm EIS, Yahoo, 10/29/2003 discusses the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' announcement of the list of alternative sites that will need to be investigated as part of the Cape Wind windfarm Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). According to the article, originally 17 sites were identified by the public and federal, state and local agencies. The Corps then screened those sites based on five criteria: availability of renewable energy (i.e. wind power classification); ISO New England grid connection availability (connection point, transmission/distribution lines, efficiency/capacity); available land or water area; engineering constraints (constructability, geotechnical conditions, water depths); and legal/regulatory constraints (i.e. endangered species, shipping channels, etc.). Based on this analysis, the alternatives proposed include an onshore alternative at the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod, Mass.; three shallow water alternatives -- the applicant's preferred alternative of Horseshoe Shoal, and also Tuckernuck Shoal, and Hankerchief Shoal, Mass.; and the combined locations are New Bedford Harbor, Mass., and a reduced footprint at Horseshoe Shoal. The area south of Tuckernuck Island, Mass., will serve as a deep-water site.