On Friday 07 January 2011, Ohio's outgoing Governor Ted Strickland finished something he started a couple of years back. According to an NBC4i report from Columbus, Ohio, Strickland signed a lease agreement giving Lake Erie Energy Development Co. rights to the lake bed (owned by the State of Ohio) which will allow LEEDCo the ability to anchor their new turbines to the underwater surface and conduct tests on the feasibility of offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes.
This is not a new idea, but it would be the first of its kind in Ohio. According to offshoreWIND.biz, the State of Indiana is looking to use a part of its Lake Michigan lakebed to start an offshore windfarm. This article also indicates a couple of other interesting facts - first off, in April of 2010, Massachusetts received permission from the Federal Government to establish the nation's first offshore windfarm off the coast of Cape Cod. Second, the State of Indiana already has 5 active windfarms producing 1,036megawatts of power. While, admittedly, this is still a small portion of Indiana's total energy consumption, it is a start to moving away from total dependency on coal fired plants and other non-renewable sources.
Another good article on the Lake Erie project and the turbines to be used by LEEDCo comes from Alternative-Energy News (23 June 2010). The Lake Erie project will be using new GE turbines that will stand 300' tall with 176' ultralightweight carbon fiber blades (improving efficiency). Furthermore, these new generation turbines will be more efficient through a number of new technologies and the elimination of numerous moving parts such as gearboxes.
This new technology is exciting for a number of reasons - the increased efficiency allows for optimization of wind capture and reduces maintenance requirements / costs. First, this means that the turbines can spin at a lower windspeed, increasing their energy production range. Secondly, and possibly more important given the accessibility issues of planting a giant turbine in the middle of a lake, this decrease in maintenance will reduce downtime of the turbine (leading to increased energy production) and will reduce the costs of maintenance (operational costs / mW produced) leading to a more cost efficient turbine complex.
In all, it's hard for me to not support this initiative. I do have some concerns though. Lake Erie is home to some notoriously challenging weather situations - these turbines are going to have to be built and anchored to survive Lake effect snow, large waves and the general battering of the Great Lakes. These turbines will also need to be well 'advertised' to mariners. As a new addition to the Lake topography, serious measures will need to be undertaken to ensure that mariners do not hit them - this could be catastrophic to both the mariner and the turbine (and depending on the ship's cargo, the Lake Erie ecosystem as well). Finally, there are some issues regarding the safety of turbines in relation to birds and other animals. While I think this is most likely a very minor concern, it should be stated that Ohio does have American Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons (I, however, do not know if these birds range into Lake Erie near the proposed site or if this is truly a viable concern - I AM just listing it as a potential concern).
I now pose the question - what do you think about offshore windfarms? Post your answers in the comments below.
