The U.S. Energy Dept. announced on July 1 a conditional commitment for a $150-million loan guarantee to support construction of the 360-MW Cape Wind offshore wind project in Massachusetts.

If built, the planned project would be the first commercial-scale offshore U.S. wind facility. It would use 130 offshore wind turbines, each 3.6 MW, to provide up to 75% of the power needed for Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard and would create about 400 construction jobs. Under the project's proposed financing structure, DOE would be part of a group of public and private lenders.