YARMOUTH, Mass. – A proposed offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound could provide needed electricity in New England and help diversify energy supplies to guard against rising natural gas prices, a federal study found.

The U.S. Energy Department’s report was prepared to examine regional energy needs as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ ongoing review of the hotly contested Cape Wind project’s environmental impacts.

“New England’s energy outlook could benefit significantly by utilizing our ocean resources in combination with current renewable energy technologies to address our growing energy needs,” the department’s report says. “This in turn will help to combat global warming, pollution emissions and environmental degradation, energy price volatility and fuel supply constraints.”