Google backs massive wind power project

Google has announced that it will invest in the development of the Atlantic Wind Connection, a $5 billion, 350-mile backbone transmission project that will stretch from New Jersey to Virginia and have the ability to connect 6,000 megawatts of offshore wind turbines. The line would run in shallow waters several miles offshore and enable offshore wind farms by first building the transmission capacity for the power generated. Google estimates the capacity of the transmission line to be 60 percent of the wind energy installed in the U.S. last year and enough to power nearly 2 million homes. According to the New York Times, construction could start by 2013, and a 150-mile portion of the project from New Jersey to Delaware (costing $1.8 billion) could go into service by early 2016. The remainder won’t be finished until at least 2021.