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Google Invests in Atlantic Wind Connection Offshore Turbine Power

by Terrence O'Brien on October 13, 2010 at 07:20 AM

AWC
Google has its hands on everything, it seems. The company just revealed that it had invested significant resources in developing self-driving cars, and now it has announced that it will be investing heavily in the construction of the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) backbone. The 350-mile transmission backbone will connect several offshore wind farms, and provide additional power transmission capacity to the Northeast corridor, which is stretched incredibly thin. The cable backbone will stretch from New Jersey to Virginia, between 10 and 15 miles offshore. The new AWC will also make it easier to build additional turbines offshore once completed.

The undersea cable will increase access to renewable energy, and improve the quality of service along the mid-Atlantic coast. Google is investing 37.5-percent of the equity in the initial development stage, although it's unclear exactly how much cash the company will be seeding for the project, which is estimated to cost a total of $5 billion. Trans-Elect is the company building the transmission line, but the project is being funded by Google, Good Energies and Marubeni Corporation. The new backbone will help ensure that the East Coast doesn't experience another catastrophic blackout like the one in 2003.

Tags: AtlanticWindConnection, google, green, greentech, top, wind, WindPower

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