Offshore Wind Wire

Massachusetts Energy and Environment Secretary Ian Bowles said yesterday that the power purchase agreement between Cape Wind and National Grid would withstand a legal challenge from renewable energy producer TransCanada, the Boston Herald reported.

In a filing on the Cape Wind PPA case, the company complained that the bidding process favors in-state producers.  TransCanada filed a similar complaint in Rhode Island.  Bowles said that Massachusetts has dropped quotas for in-state renewable energy and that the state’s bidding process would survive the TransCanada argument.

“They’ll have an opportunity to bid,” Bowles told the Herald.

Delaware Extension Pushes Escape Clauses Back

The two-year extension of the delivery deadline for the NRG Bluewater Wind offshore wind farm in Delaware has also extended the escape clauses for the developer and Delmarva Power, the purchasing utility, The News Journal of Delaware reported.

Under the original contract, NRG Bluewater Wind had until June 23, 2010, to abandon the project without financial penalty.  Under the new contract,  the developer will forfeit one third of its deposit — $2 million — if it abandons the project before June 23, 2011 and all of its deposit after that date.  Delmarva Power’s escape clause was pushed back to June 23, 2012, The News Journal reported.

The paper also quoted Matt DaPrato, a wind analyst with IHS Emerging Energy Research, saying the extended deadlines are “a much more realistic assessment” given the slow pace of government permitting.