The transmission company Trans-Elect plans to build a $5 billion power-transmission backbone with the help of a major investment by Google. This ambitious project, called the Atlantic Wind Connection, will stretch 350 miles from Virginia to New Jersey, and can carry up to 6000 megawatts of power from ocean breezes to 1.9 million homes on the East Coast.

A this point, however, there is no power to carry. The U.S. has yet to coax a single watt from offshore wind turbines. But there are projects in the works, and with good reason—there's a lot of power offshore. According to a 2008 Department of Energy report, by 2030 gusts from the sea could provide 60,000 megawatts of power to Americans. That's almost double what all the land-based wind farms currently provide. The race is on to secure a position in the offshore wind market. Here is where companies are looking to catch a blast of green energy.

Texas

When the former Republic of Texas negotiated its boundaries as a new state of the Union in 1845, its president Sam Houston demanded the border extend 10.3 miles off the shore. For the rest of the states in the U.S. (except Florida), national waters begin about 3 miles from land. The extended Texas state line means no federal lease is required and less paperwork for companies that hope to make a buck off gulf breezes, as long as their turbines stay within 10.3 miles of the shoreline. Wind company Baryonyx signed a land agreement with Texas in 2009, and hopes to get turbines up and running in three to five years.

➢Rio Grande Wind Park

o Distance from shore: 4.25 to 10.3 miles

o Number of turbines: 170 to 225

o Power per turbine: 5 to 6 megawatts

o Total power: 1000 to 1300 megawatts

o Number of homes: 245,000 to 320,000

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➢ Mustang Wind Park

o Distance from shore: 6 to 10.3 miles

o Number of turbines: 170 to 225

o Power per turbine: 5 to 6 megawatts

o Total power: 1000 to 1300 megawatts

o Number of homes: 245,000 to 320,000

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Delaware

Bluewater Wind wants to build wind turbines in the water along five states on the Northeast Coast. Its biggest project is the Mid-Atlantic Wind Park in Delaware. In 2008, Bluewater signed a 25-year deal with power company Delmarva to deliver clean power to Delawareans. Dozens of permits and approvals are needed before construction can begin, but pistons could start pumping within three years.

➢ Mid-Atlantic Wind Park

o Distance from shore: 13 miles

o Number of turbines: 80 to120

o Power per turbine: 3 to 5 megawatts

o Total power: 293 to 450 megawatts

o Number of homes: 100,000

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New Jersey

Garden State governor Chris Christie aims to produce 1000 megawatts of wind-generated power by 2013. Several offshore wind companies hope to get a portion of the market, including some local bluejackets. Fishermen's Energy of New Jersey is channeling the maritime ways of its trawlers into getting clean energy up and running in the sea.

Deepwater Wind and Bluewater Wind are also competing to build turbines off the coast of Atlantic City. All the offshore wind startups anxiously await official release of New Jersey offshore wind regulations in 2011 so they can move forward with their plans.

➢ Fishermen's Energy

o Distance from shore: 3 miles

o Number of turbines: 8

o Power per turbine: 2.5 megawatts

o Total power: 20 megawatts

o Number of homes: rural homes in New Jersey

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New Jersey (cont.)

➢ Atlantic City

o Deepwater Wind (partnered with Garden State Offshore Energy) versus Bluewater Wind to develop power off the coast of Atlantic City.

o Distance from shore: 20 miles

o Numbe of turbines: 96

o Power per turbine: 3 to 4 megawatts

o Total power: 348 megawatts

o Number of homes: 100,000

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Massachusetts

Complaints from Cape Codders about Cape Wind's plans to put wind turbines in their water have received a lot of media attention, including ridicule from The Daily Show in 2007. Three years later, the company is vying to build the very first offshore wind park in the country. On October 6, 2010, U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar signed the first federal offshore wind farm lease with Cape Wind in history. Construction for the park could be complete in as little as two years.

➢ Nantucket Sound

o Distance from shore: 5 miles

o Number of turbines: 130

o Power per turbine: 3.6 megawatts

o Total power: 468 megawatts

o Number of homes: 75 percent of electricity demand for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket

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Rhode Island

Deepwater Wind has a two-step approach to fulfilling Governor Carcieri's vision of trapping 15 percent of Rhode Island's electricity needs with wind. After setting up a small wind farm near Block Island, the company will channel that experience into a much bigger farm off the Rhode Island Sound. Bluewater Wind also has interest in developing wind parks in the area.

➢ Block Island Wind Farm

o Distance from shore: 3 miles

o Number of turbines: 5 to 8

o Power per turbine: 3.6 megawatts

o Total power: 28.8 megawatts

o Number of homes: majority of Block Island's electricity needs

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➢ Rhode Island Sound Wind Farm

o Distance from shore: 22 miles

o Number of turbines: 107

o Power per turbine: 3.6

o Total power: 385 megawatts

o Number of homes: 15 percent of the state's needs

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