Abstract
Cape Wind Associates (CWA) is proposing to construct and operate a 130-turbine Wind Park in central Nantucket Sound along with a submarine electrical transmission cable system interconnecting the Wind Park with the onshore electrical grid. Each wind turbine generator (WTG) will have a tower diameter of approximately 16 feet (FT), and will be installed in a grid with a minimum spacing of 0.34 nautical miles (NM) by 0.54 NM. Inner-array cables connecting each WTG to an electrical service platform located within the Wind Park and the submarine electrical transmission cable system to shore will be embedded into the bottom of Nantucket Sound through the use of a jet plow.
As part of the Environmental Impact Statement preparation process, the US Coast Guard (USCG) requested that a qualitative assessment be prepared of navigational risks related to the proposed Project. The analyses required by the USCG were outlined in a letter to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) dated February 10, 2003. ESS Group, Inc. (ESS) prepared the Navigational Risk Assessment per request of the USACE.