1. Get first hand knowledge on Great Lakes offshore
wind energy at Wind Energy Update’s upcoming
conference in Toronto on 9-10 September 2010.
For more information check out the website -
Complied by Wind Energy Update www.windenergyupdate.com/TORONTO
North America’s Offshore Wind Energy Fact Pack
As of 31st May 2010, according to statistics published by AWEA, in Top 15 US Wind Power Owners
the United States the top 15 wind power owners (MW under
ownership) are without question all based around onshore wind MW under
Company
energy. In Canada the main players are Brookfield Power, Canadian “managing ownership”
Hydro Developers, TransAlta Corp, Kruger Energy, Suncor Energy NextEra energy Resources 7458
and Acciona Energy. In the next 20 years this will all change! Iberdrola Renewables 3225
Horizon-EDPR 2642
Offshore Wind Pioneers
MidAmerican Energy 2205
Radial Wind: Looking to build out 390 turbines on floating E.On Climate & Renewabes 1720
platforms in Lake Michigan Invenergy 1500
Edisson Mission Group 1210
Cuyahoga County has proposed 20MW of turbines in a pilot Infigen Energy 1090
project off Cleveland in Lake Erie AES 1057
enXco 882
Scandia Wind has proposed two 500 MW projects off Muskegon in Duke Energy 735
Lake Michigan Noble Environmental Power 726
John Deere Renewables 705
New York state power authority (NYPA) has requested proposals BP Wind Energy 679
for a wind farm up to 500MW in Lake Erie or Lake Ontario
First Wind 478
Trillium Wind Power Corporation: proposing to build multiple SouthPoint Wind: an Ontario, Canada, company, is proposing
projects in Lake Ontario, the first being TWP1 consisting of 740 both a 30 MW project a new 1.4 GW project in Lake Erie and
turbines Lake St. Clair
NRG Bluewater Wind LLC: is moving forward firstly with its Apex Wind: Proposed Lake Erie Offshore Wind project would
Delaware project; the site is located in the Atlantic Ocean with a 450 consist of more than 167 wind turbines two miles off the Lake
megawatt nameplate capacity Erie coast running from Chautauqua County to Buffalo
Is there money in Offshore Wind
Energy in North America?
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said
that the $28.4 billion Fiscal Year 2011
budget request for the Department of
Energy "cuts wasteful spending while
making wise investments in innovation
and clean energy."
The Department is looking for a $42.5
million increase in funding for its Wind
Energy program and says that in FY 2011 the program is launching a robust offshore wind R&D effort to address technical, scaling,
environmental, regulatory, and public acceptance risks to accelerate clean energy contributions from untapped offshore wind
resources.
At present, no offshore wind farms operate in the United States, but a number are in development. Once those wind farms are
constructed an underwater transmission cable system that could connect a dozen or more offshore wins developments could be
installed using existing technology. Development on a large scale would eventually require HVDC cables with higher capacity, he adds,
and it might be useful to establish a transmission authority specialized for purpose.
In Canada the development of Offshore Wind Energy is tied to Ontario. The introduction of the Green Energy and Green Economy Act
in 2009, designed to stimulate renewable energy development and drive energy efficiency, was welcomed with relief by the renewable
energy sector. Former Ontario Energy Minister George Smitherman recently estimated that the legislation would be the catalyst for
over C$4 billion of investment. The centrepiece of the legislation is a feed-in tariff, which is guaranteed for a 20 year time period.
Rates set under Ontario's feed in tariff program, formally launched on October 1, 2009, establish an offshore wind generation price of
C$0.19kW/h to be paid to approved suppliers.
For Ontario’s offshore wind developers, the project finance environment remains untested. Ontario’s offshore wind farms have yet to
be constructed, and finance for these projects has yet to be raised. But the industry appears to be comparatively well positioned.

2. Opportunity & Timing
The NREL chart across shows that there is more Offshore
Wind potential on the US side of The Great Lakes then
there is in the Mid-Atlantic area of the US East Coast or in
other US coastal areas – and this does not even include
Ontario’s portion of The Great Lakes where there is even
more wind opportunity.
Research by the National Renewable energy Laboratory
(NREL) shows that wind resource varies dramatically
depending on location and water depth. Using a
distance of between five and 50 nautical miles (9km-
90km) offshore, and water depth of 30 metres or less,
the Mid-Atlantic coastal region has the greatest
potential – 64.3 gigawatts (GW) – followed by the Great
Lakes (15.5 GW) and New England (10.3 GW).
At depths of 30-60 metres, the Great Lakes has 11.6 GW. Some of the wind in that area can probably be harvested by turbines
mounted on monopole and gravity foundations. Beyond 30 metres of depth other technology will probably be needed. At depths 60-
900 metres wind resource favours the Great Lakes, with 193.6 GW. Except for Lake Erie the beds of the US side of the other Great
Lakes tend to drop off quickly to below 30 metres. This is not the case for the Canadian side of Lake Huron and Lake Ontario where
offshore farms have been proposed of several GW’s. In Lake Erie and Lake Michigan where several projects are proposed, winter ice
build up poses a serious problem. Thick ice flows that can crush steel ship hulls will require reinforced turbine foundations.
Technical challenges: Identify then Solve using domestic and European knowledge
Currently, a lack of precedence in the Great lakes leaves no established technical guidelines for the selection, design and construction
of [turbine support] structures,” the company writes. (It intends to use monopile foundations). “In addition, the established European
practices may not be applicable to the environmental conditions in the Great Lakes.
According to “Offshore Wind Farm Manufacturing Worldwide” a report released by an industrial research firm, during the next five
years offshore wind farm production will far outpace the production of land based wind turbines around the world.
Accelerated interest in offshore wind is being driven predominately through government cash and tax incentives that promote
renewable energy development particularly in the U.S. and Europe.
When it comes to domestic manufacturing of offshore specific components the U.S. has approached the offshore sector cautiously
with only 2% of sales going towards offshore production. For comparison India and chain are at 20% and 17% respectively. China
is currently the global leader in generating the sales for offshore wind energy manufacturing initiatives, holding 61%
of the market.
The U.S. should look to Europe, particularly North Sea bordering countries that have already invested heavily in offshore wind farm
construction, for guidance about how to effectively build an offshore wind industry. In the UK the Infrastructure Planning Commission
(IPC) was formed in October 2009 to take the decision making and approvals process out of local area and put it the realm of the
IPC. The IPC is aiming to create a fast-track process, wherein the approvals process for nationally significant infrastructure projects
(NSIP’s) is shortened from approximately seven to one year.
The U.S. has taken several similar steps by establishing federal programs aimed at financing wind and grid interconnection projects.
Critical support by decision makers at the federal level is lacking for expediting the permitting process. Notably all power generated
from EU turbines were transmitted through new grid interconnection lines built specifically to connect the turbines to the European
grid.
Race to be first in the water?
OHIO MICHIGAN
The state of Ohio has mapped Lake Erie into square mile grids and Michigan is uniquely positioned to be an economic hub for
colour coded them to identify the best places for turbines. The state is the construction, deployment, installation, and
also reviewing Ohio laws and regulations to give wind developers the maintenance of offshore wind energy technology.
site control they need while still protecting Lake Erie. Employment opportunities can be developed in
Great Lakes energy Development Task Force formed a nonprofit manufacturing electrical generation system components,
economic development corporation called the Lake Erie energy metal fabrication, assembly, water transportation,
Development Corp. (LEEDCo). Mission is to progress towards installing electrical distribution, construction, and other support
turbines in the lake, with the goal of creating a regional offshore services throughout the Great Lakes region.
industry.