The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved incentive rates for a $5bn transmission line being constructed by Google and its partners to transport electricity from wind farms off the Atlantic coast.
FERC said the companies involved in the project can earn a 12.59% return on their equity investment, which is less than the 13.58% return requested by the companies, reports Reuters.
Google has teamed up with Good Energies and Japan’s Marubeni for the construction of two 400km transmission lines extending from northern New Jersey to southern Virginia.
The 6,000MW of electricity carried by the lines will connect with the main electric grid at onshore sites in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia and will serve 1.9 million homes.
The project is yet to be approved by the Interior Department, several state agencies and the regional power grid operator, PJM.
The first phase of transmission line is expected to start operating in 2016.
Completion of this project will help the mid-Atlantic states meet their goals to generate more of their electricity from renewable energy sources, such as wind power.