The company is competing with Cape Wind in Massachusetts to be the nation’s first offshore wind project. Cape Wind’s project, having withstood a decade of high-profile opposition, is the subject of hearings by Massachusetts utility regulators this month.

As part of a deal to help ease the process of the planned merger between NStar and Northeast Utilities , the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick has reached a deal that would see the merged entity purchase more than a quarter of the power expected to be generated by Cape Wind.

A decade from now, the Cape Wind saga may be remembered as the labor pain that helped birth a new industry. Although the U.S. boasts more installed onshore wind capacity than any other country, the nation lags in the offshore arena.

BOSTON — Cape Wind has outlasted a decade of government review, a slew of court brawls and fierce opposition from mariners, fishermen, Indian tribes and Kennedys just to win the right to sell its wind-fueled electricity. Now, all it needs are customers. Last month, the nation’s first offshore wind farm nailed down its first buyer
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