Wind farm announced for Lake Erie, could produce 1,000 megawatts by 2020
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 24th 2010 2:01PM
posted May 24th 2010 2:01PM
Wind farms have started popping up around the states -- including one off Rehoboth Beach -- and if the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp has its way, twenty megawatts of power will be generated off the coast of Ohio beginning in late 2012. The direct drive wind turbines, each generating four megawatts of power, will be supplied and maintained by General Electric, who designed them especially for off-shore use. Subsequent projects are also in the works by the dynamic duo, with the eventual goal of 1,000 megawatts by 2020 -- by which time the Insane Clown Posse will be eligible for the Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame and the United States will have its first Juggalo President. PR after the break. GE and Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation Announce Great Lakes Offshore Wind Partnership at AWEA
Press Release Source: GE On Monday May 24, 2010, 6:00 am EDT
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE (NYSE: GE - News) and Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) of Northern Ohio announced today a long-term partnership beginning with the development of the first fresh water offshore wind farm in the US and involving a broad range of other initiatives. Under the new partnership GE will provide direct-drive wind turbines to LEEDCo's 20 megawatt offshore wind project in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie. The partnership and project is a significant step towards accelerating the deployment of offshore wind in the Great Lakes. The announcement was made at the American Wind Energy Association's annual WINDPOWER Conference in Dallas.
"Ohio's greatest potential for creating wind energy is offshore in Lake Erie, and this partnership marks a significant step forward," said Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. "In Ohio, we have all the right assets to make offshore wind energy successful, including an innovative workforce and the manufacturing strengths that would allow us to build all the component parts for wind turbines. This partnership will not only advance offshore wind technologies, it will also advance Ohio's economy. We are eager to continue the state's strong collaboration with GE and LEEDCo as we pursue this exciting, first-of-its-kind initiative for Lake Erie."
The LEEDCo-GE partnership builds on the momentum of a four-year effort by The Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force and other partners in Ohio to establish an offshore wind industry on Lake Erie, leveraging the region's strong manufacturing base.
To kick off the collaboration with LEEDCo, GE has committed to providing offshore wind turbines and maintenance services for an initial 20-megawatt wind farm. Upon its completion, targeted for late 2012, this project would be located off the shores of Lake Erie, near Cleveland, Ohio. This would be followed by subsequent projects with a long-term goal of 1,000 megawatts in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie by 2020.
At the core of the Lake Erie Project is GE's next generation wind turbine, a 4-megawatt machine designed specifically for offshore deployment. As the largest wind turbine in GE's fleet, it will incorporate direct-drive technology gained through GE's acquisition of ScanWind. The 4-megawatt wind turbine will feature GE's innovative advanced loads controls and aeroelastically tailored blade technology.
In addition to collaborating on the initial 20-megawatt project, GE and LEEDCo will create a strategic plan to identify opportunities for cost reduction to make offshore wind energy in the Great Lakes economically viable. GE and LEEDCo will also work jointly on advocacy and public policy issues to increase support for offshore wind energy, and accelerate the growth of America's offshore wind industry.
"Offshore wind has the potential to create thousands of new jobs in Ohio and become a major source of economic growth. Working with LEEDCo we have made significant progress to make offshore wind in Lake Erie a reality," said Vic Abate, Vice President of GE's Renewable Energy business, and also President of AWEA's Board of Directors. "We look forward to installing our next generation offshore, direct drive wind technology in Lake Erie. GE is committed to working with LEEDCo to achieve its vision of creating an offshore wind sector in Northern Ohio and the Great Lakes region."
"LEEDCo is pleased to be working with GE and we value the equipment efficiency, product innovation, and commercial acumen they bring to the partnership," said Dr. Lorry Wagner, President of LEEDCo. "Together, we aim to develop a cost-effective approach for installing and maintaining offshore wind turbines with the highest possible availability. We are confident that as the GE product line develops and our methodologies mature, the combination will promote a self-sustaining and growing market for offshore wind in Lake Erie and the Great Lakes, providing economic opportunity and emissions-free energy for Northern Ohio."
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE - News) is a diversified infrastructure, finance and media company taking on the world's toughest challenges. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, health care solutions and television programming, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
GE serves the energy sector by developing and deploying technology that helps make efficient use of natural resources. With nearly 85,000 global employees and 2009 revenues of $37 billion, GE Energy www.ge.com/energy is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies. The businesses that comprise GE Energy-GE Power & Water, GE Energy Services and GE Oil & Gas-work together to provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels.
About LEEDCo
The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo), based in Cleveland, Ohio, is a regional nonprofit economic development corporation, leading efforts to build, install, and deploy an offshore wind farm on Lake Erie while spurring economic development in Northern Ohio's wind energy industry. Initially, LEEDCo is pursuing the installation of a 20-megawatt facility offshore near downtown Cleveland. This will be followed by subsequent projects with a long-term goal of 1,000 megawatts in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie by 2020, at a price competitive with other forms of electricity generation. LEEDCo stems from the efforts of the Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force, chaired by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason, to explore offshore wind. LEEDCo's founding partners include the Cleveland Foundation, the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Lorain County and NorTech. NorTech Energy Enterprise, an initiative of NorTech, led the effort to launch LEEDCo, which was incorporated in late 2009. www.leedco.org
PEOPLE. ONE MEGAWATT IS ONE MILLION WATTS.
Ever heard of Wikipedia??? 1000 megawatts is about equal to what a nuclear power plant puts out.
I love it when my state works to get more green.
Awesome callout to all the Juggalos out there! Keep it up.
Why is engadget making ICP references? It's not funny, it doesn't add to the story...what the hell is that?
2020 and that was the best reference you could make?
To ALL the nuclear supporter, we are sorry you graduated in the wrong university, if you really like mess around with nuclear energy think about move to Iran
@mex And those of us in the USA who would like to actually free ourselves from our addiction to foreign energy are sorry you graduated from wherever that was (obviously not with an English degree).
Wind is a pipe dream. Solar is the future–two or three decades into the future. We need clean energy now, and nuclear power fits the bill, especially with the newest technology in reactor design, facility safety, and spent fuel reprocessing.
@macserv I can see you have any other argument than my english.
You are right, I have not a degree on english because guess what, we are on the internet and people can write you from the whole world, listen up, not only USA exists on this planet.
I'm italian and I'm dyeing to see if your italian is better than my english.
Sorry if I'm sounding bitter but I just saw the end of Lost and I really did not like it so much :)
@mex what do you suggest Mr Italian, mafia energy?
@macserv
Wind power isn't going to free you from shit. 70% of our electricity is produced by Coal, Natural gas or Nuclear, all of which we get from our own resources.You can't fill your car's tank with a wind farm and a solar roller is not feasible.
@Ignoramus nice argument here as well, yeah we italian are all mafia and spaghetti, now you prove to the Internet how smart you are.
Wake up American Citizen, mafia is not a nice story to make up movies, people is struggling and dyeing for it, I call your respect, if you have any left.
Interesting news. The real problem with wind power on lake Erie is the seasonality issue. I get back to Cleveland every once in a while, and once I visited the science museum they have there next to the rock and roll hall of fame, and right on the lawn they have a small wind turbine. If you read the little plaque at the bottom, you'll see that the peak wind speed comes in the winter time, and the lowest wind speeds are in July and August. So it'll work great for everyone in northern Ohio using electric heating in the winter, but it won't be good for running air conditioners in the summertime. Ideally, you'd want to combine this with solar in the summer to run the AC with the sunshine that's more prevalent then. Of course, in the winter, the solar isn't going to do much (although it will be slightly more efficient when the sun does shine). What will probably happen is that they'll burn extra coal in the summer to offset the lower wind output. That's really where nuclear tends to win out, it's a nice constant power source. Renewables tend to work better when combined, so just having a wind farm is a start, but it probably won't be a good complete solution.
Ask the Dutch how well these worked for the Netherlands. Ask Iowa residents how frequently these break down and what it costs to repair them. Ask how union labor will produce these at globaly competitive rates. I'm calling BS on this and any deal from GE and our government. Now I'm going back to watching green week on NBC.
we already have a dipshit for a president.
Only 21% more and we can travel back in time.
I suggested this same structure for Lake Superior. The average wind speeds are a lot higher. The canadian side uses 80-100 windmills to power 80k people.
It'll fall apart before it's even finished being built.
They've been trying to do this for a number of years on lake Erie but it won't happen. Too much push back from the city of leamington, Ontario. Turbines affect migratory pattern of birds that are in direct path of these proposed systems along with other life, monarch butterflies, Canadian geese, etc. IRCA hasn't allowed it then when the private companies were pushing for it. Now that GE is backing it things should be interesting. They most likely have enough money to pay of the right people and then some.
I'm guessing these won't cause a spill.
"1,000 megawatts by 2020"
so that's cumulative?
I'll be impressed when they hit 1.21 gigawatt