Wind power in Cleveland is “no longer a matter of whether, but when?” said Case President Barbara Snyder at the opening of yesterday’s ‘Building an Advanced Energy Future for Offshore Wind’ conference.
Case has invested $200,000 in plans for the world’s first freshwater wind turbine off the shores of Cleveland and a complimentary research center. Case is home to the Great Lakes Energy Innovation Center which raised more than $4 million from Cleveland and Maltz foundations to build the wind farm and a local knowledge base that will be used to establish renewable energy companies of the future. One million dollars went to hire JW America, a company with roots in Germany and some massive wind projects under its belt, to study the feasibility.
This conference gathered all of the players for an update on the study, which will be released in April 2009, and related issues like regulations and environmental concerns.
Peter Mandelstam, head of Bluewater Wind, noted the challenges in placing turbines in Lake Erie. They include:
- Higher (per kWh) cost because coal is cheap
- Ice floes – increased the cost of the foundation
- Depth – has to be 30 ft. or less which means it might have to be closer to the shore and so it could create view-shed obstructions
“It may be a tad more expensive in terms of cents per kilowatt hour, but there are so many benefits,” he said, noting clean tech jobs and tons of carbon dioxide avoided.