North American Windpower: LEEDCo Names Partner Organizations For Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project

LEEDCo Names Partner Organizations For Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project

in News Departments > Projects & Contracts

by NAW Staff Friday February 15 2013

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo) says it has assembled a team of local experts and partners to help in the development of an offshore wind project in the Great Lakes.

Last December, LEEDCo was awarded $4 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to install nine 3 MW direct-drive wind turbines on monopile foundations in Lake Erie.

The team for the "Icebreaker" project consists of approximately a dozen partner organizations. In addition to the DOE, the other partners include Siemens, URS, Offshore Design Engineering Ltd., Freshwater Wind, Eranti Engineering, DNV KEMA, Bayer Material Science, the Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, COWI (and its U.S. subsidiary, Ocean Coastal Consultants), Project Management Consultants and McMahon DeGulis LLP.

The group will submit the results of its work to the federal government. The DOE will evaluate the results of the seven technology demonstration projects and will select up to three of those projects to each receive an additional $46 million in funding during a four-year period. In order to win the next round of funding, the LEEDCo team will do the following within the next year:

Address critical technical objectives, including evaluating and selecting the optimal turbine foundation design; reviewing installation, operations and maintenance methodologies; researching the challenges and solutions for icing conditions; and assessing the technical and financial feasibility of the overall project;
Complete the necessary permit applications; and
Secure power purchase agreements with potential customers, and address initial interconnectivity considerations.

The Icebreaker project will give Siemens the opportunity to test new icing technologies that could be applied around the world, LEEDCo notes.

“We are working on a de-icing mechanism for the blades,” explains Thomas Mousten, head of offshore wind, Americas at Siemens Energy Inc. “Ice on the blades can cause an imbalance of the rotor, which would require the wind turbine to be shut down until ice is removed. We are working on a way to heat up the blades to reduce the amount of downtime due to ice.”

Latest Top Stories

Post-FIT Decision, Turbine OEMs Mull Over Options For Ontario Wind Energy Market

Under political pressure, the Ontario government recently pulled the plug on its landmark feed-in tariff (FIT) program for large-scale renewable energy projects, leaving provincial suppliers and manufacturers with an uncertain future.

Continent's First Grid-Connected Offshore Wind Turbine Floats In Maine Waters

Billed as a historic day for offshore wind in North America, researchers flipped the switch on a floating prototype. This marks the first electrons from an offshore wind turbine to flow into the region's grid.

Raising The Discourse: How Wind Industry Can Help Avoid 'Climate Emergency'

Larry Schweiger, the president/CEO at the National Wildlife Federation, says the wind industry is an important ally to combat global warming, which is triggering dangerous and unprecedented weather events around the world.

The Numbers Don't Lie: U.S. Utilities Continue To Embrace Wind Energy

Last year, more than 40% of U.S. utilities reported having wind energy on their systems, proving the fact that utilities continue to integrate wind in growing numbers – and, in some cases, at unprecedented levels.

BOEM To Award Mass., R.I. Offshore Wind Leases; Pre-Qualifies Nine Developers

In July, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will auction nearly 165,000 acres off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts to facilitate offshore wind development.