Developer Jay Cashman says the $750-million project would generate 300 megawatts of electricity.

03:10 PM EDT on Wednesday, May 24, 2006

BY TIMOTHY C. BARMANN
Journal Staff Writer

A Boston developer has proposed building a $750-million offshore wind farm in Buzzards Bay, similar in size and scope to the Cape Wind proposal for Nantucket Sound.

Patriot Renewables LLC said yesterday that it wants to erect 90 to 120 wind turbines in three clusters within the bay, about three to four miles off the coast of New Bedford and Fairhaven, Mass.

Buzzards Bay lies just outside New Bedford Harbor, bounded on the west by Westport, on the south by the Elizabeth Island chain and on the east by Falmouth.

The South Coast Offshore Wind Project would generate 300 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply about 300,000 homes -- or about 70 percent of the electricity that would be generated by the Cape Wind project.

Patriot Renewables is a subsidiary of Jay Cashman Inc., a Quincy-based civil and marine construction company that has been involved in several prominent projects in Massachusetts, including Boston's Deer Island Treatment Facility and the Central Artery Tunnel. It employs 1,000 people nationwide, according to the company.

A spokesman for Cape Wind Associates said it welcomed the project and wished the developer success. "To meet growing electricity demands in an environmentally responsible way, this region needs a lot of renewable energy and we wish Mr. Cashman well," said Mark Rodgers, spokesman for Cape Wind.

Because South Coast Offshore Wind would be in state waters, it would require regulatory approval from various Massachusetts agencies, as well as from federal regulators. The company could not provide a list yesterday of all the regulatory requirements.

The Buzzards Bay proposal comes at an uncertain time for the Cape Wind developers, who have been seeking state and regulatory approval for five years. That project has been opposed by powerful legislators, including U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, and well-financed groups, including the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. They have raised concern about the project's impact on navigation in the sound, and they contend the giant turbine structures will mar the ocean vista from Cape Cod.

Kennedy and others support a measure pending in Congress that would essentially kill the Cape Wind project. An amendment to a Coast Guard funding bill would allow the governor of Massachusetts to veto any wind energy project in Nantucket Sound. Governor Romney has also been a vocal opponent of Cape Wind.

The amendment apparently would not apply to South Coast Offshore Wind because it would be in Buzzards Bay.

Jay Cashman, president of Jay Cashman Inc., said he is not deterred by the opposition generated against the Cape Wind project.

"If I was afraid of people disagreeing with me, I'd never leave my house," Cashman said in a telephone interview yesterday.

He said he has been interested in building a renewable energy project for two years. He has consulted with Cape Wind in the past, providing estimates of how much it might cost to build that project.

He pursued his own project for three reasons, he said. "I think we can make a profit at it."

He's also concerned that fossil-fuel based generators are contributing to global warming. Most important, he said, is that he sees the project as a way to help move the nation toward energy independence from foreign countries.

"America's Achilles' heel is its energy dependence on other parts of the world with political instability that ebbs and flows," he said.

Asked whether he anticipates trouble finding investors, given the uncertainties surrounding the Cape Wind project, Cashman said no. He said he will finance the permitting process himself, which he anticipates will cost about $5 million.

"I won't be going out and looking for financing until I have all the permits in place. We're a few years away from that."

He said he expects the permitting process to take three years, and construction to take two.

Cashman said he hopes to prevent some of the controversy faced by Cape Wind by working closely with those who could be affected by the Buzzards Bay project, including environmental groups, fishermen, sailors, ferry operators, government agencies and others.

"I'm hoping I can figure out what their concerns are and address them in the process.

"If stakeholders aren't in favor of the project, the project isn't going to happen."

At least one stakeholder is already critical of the proposal.

Mark Rasmussen, executive director and baykeeper for the Coalition for Buzzards Bay, said it appears that the proposal would interfere with a number of activities on the bay, including recreational boating, fishing and navigation. He said barges carry 2 billion gallons of oil through Buzzards Bay en route to the Cape Cod Canal every year.

"Jay Cashman isn't asking to build a wind farm in Buzzards Bay," Rasmussen said. "He's asking for Buzzards Bay."

The project could find support among local politicians.

"I think wind farms are a good idea," said U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who represents the district that would include the project.

Although he supports the Coast Guard amendment that threatens the Cape Wind project -- a position he said he takes out of deference to his colleague, U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt -- Frank says he's "inclined to be supportive" of the Buzzards Bay proposal. He said he doesn't know all the details of the project and that he would look closely at its impact on navigation.

tbarmann@projo.com / (401) 277-7369