The ‘Icebreaker’ project is to receive $4 million of Department of Energy (DOE) funding in order to develop an advanced technology demonstration programme consisting of five to nine wind turbines seven miles off the coast of Cleveland in Lake Erie. The project is one of seven such schemes to receive federal funding and the only one in the Great Lakes region. LEEDCo’s private partners have also given an additional $1 million in cost share.
The team of experts consists of around a dozen partner organizations from Northeast Ohio and from other locations in the US and in Europe where the wind sector is already a $200 billion industry. Alongside DOE, other partners include Siemens, URS, Offshore Design Engineering Ltd, Freshwater Wind, Eranti Engineering, Bayer Material Science, Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University and others. The group will deliver results from the seven demonstration projects and the permitting process to the federal government who will then evaluate them and select up to three of those projects for additional funding of $46 million over a four-year period.
“We are very pleased to be able to assemble this team of experts with the experience and drive to deliver on the potential for wind power on the Great Lakes,” said LEEDCo President Dr. Lorry Wagner. “In one year, we will provide the federal government with a strong plan to provide clean, affordable and reliable offshore wind power to the electric grid and Northeast Ohio customers. I am convinced that we are poised to become the first freshwater wind farm in North America, which will spawn a new wind power industry in Northeast Ohio.”
In order to win the next round of funding, the LEEDCo team will have to address critical technical objectives including evaluating and selecting the optimal turbine foundation design, reviewing installation, operations and maintenance methodologies, solutions for icing conditions and technical and financial feasibility. It also has to complete the necessary permit applications and secure power purchase agreements (PPA’s) with potential customers while addressing initial interconnectivity considerations.
Team members gathered in Cleveland recently to initiate the project and to discuss their approach including collaboration on breakthrough technologies and materials. Walt Musial, a manager at Offshore Wind and Ocean Power Systems at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, described Icebreaker as the “flagship of projects that could be installed in the Great Lakes” adding that the lake has enormous offshore wind potential. The project will need specific coatings and raw materials which the team is confident it can help design.
Thomas Mousten, Head of Offshore Wind, Americas for Siemens Energy Inc., said that Icebreaker will help Siemens to test new icing technologies that could be applied elsewhere around the world.
“We are working on a de-icing mechanism for the blades” Mr Mousten said. “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 down time due to ice.”
Siemens has six locations in the US and is strongly committed to the country’s offshore wind sector.
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