Google has thrown its weight behind a project they are calling a “superhighway for clean energy."
The tech-giant agreed to buy a 37.5 percent stake in the Atlantic Wind Connection Project.
The project promises to develop an underwater electric cable stretching the 350 miles from New Jersey to Virginia, designed to spur the development of offshore wind farms. While there are currently no offshore wind farms in the United States, several are proposed for the East Coast.
The transmission line is much like a power strip that citizens would use to plug several devices into at once.
"You've got a big power strip, a 350-mile power strip that these wind farms can plug right into, and that will direct the energy right onto the land,” Maryland Energy Administration spokesman Ian Hines told The Baltimore Sun.
“The point is that if there are four places where that energy is coming onto the land rather than 14, that makes it much more cost-effective for everybody."
The initial phase slated for 2016 would be capable of delivering 2,000 megawatts of wind energy — enough to power about 500,000 homes.
The transmission network will eventually expand to stretch 350 miles and connect offshore wind turbines to 6,000 megawatts of power.
That would be enough to service almost 2 million people with clean power, according to Google's blog.
Image Courtesy of Google
Good Energies, a renewable energy investor, also signed on to buy 37.5 percent of the equity portion of the Atlantic Wind Project; Japan's Marubeni Corp. will own 10 percent.
Independent transmission company Trans-Elect will lead the Atlantic Wind Project and own the remaining 10 percent.
“We believe in investing in projects that make good business sense and further the development of renewable energy. We’re willing to take calculated risks on early stage ideas and projects that can have dramatic impacts while offering attractive returns,” posted Rick Needham, Google's Green Business Operations Director.
“This willingness to be ahead of the industry and invest in large scale innovative projects is core to our success as a company.”
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