Will Google Wind Power Project Harm Wildlife? Depends on Location

Oct. 17, 2010— -- Before Google or any other groups invest in undersea transmission lines to bring wind power to the mid-Atlantic coast area, they might want to talk with the National Audubon Society.

While the Audubon Society supports the concept of clean wind energy, it has concerns ? one of them being what impact wind generators could have on migrating birds in the fall. Also, Audubon would not like to see turbines built where the undersea canyons come close to land, because that is where seabirds such as puffins and Wilson's storm petrels gorge on small fish.

"The three keys to siting the wind farms are location, location, location," says Mike Daulton, vice president for governmental relations for Audubon in Washington. "As long as there is proper siting, this is a promising development."

Mr. Daulton was reacting to the news on Tuesday that Google and some partners have agreed to invest in a proposed $5 billion "backbone" transmission line that would bring wind-generated power to a significant portion of the mid-Atlantic coast, from Virginia to New York, by 2020.

This project would be much further offshore than the Cape Wind project off Massachusetts. The mid-Atlantic venture would position wind turbines at least 12 to 15 miles offshore, which means they would not be easily visible from land.

If the transmission line is built, according to some reports, it could move as much as 6,000 megawatts. That's enough energy to supply 1.9 million to 4.5 million households depending on the season, say utility-industry sources.

It would be equivalent to five nuclear power plants, says the company proposing to build the transmission line, Trans-Elect Development in Maryland.

Robert Mitchell, CEO of Trans-Elect, is well aware of the environmental concerns but says they shouldn't kill the project.

"Because the wind generation would be further out to sea, it is less likely to have an impact on bird migration and sea-mammal migration since birds tend to follow closer to shore," he says in an interview. He adds, "It is so much better than each of the wind generators building their own transmission lines all over the seabed."