During the American Wind Energy Association’s annual WINDPOWER Conference in Dallas, General Electric Co regional nonprofit economic development corporation and Lake Erie Energy Development Corp announced that they will be joining forces to develop the first fresh water offshore wind farm in the US or even first in the world. GE and LEEDCo had met with an agreement for a partnership in developing the offshore wind energy that will be located off the shore of Lake Erie near Cleveland Ohio.
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland said that Ohio really has the greatest potential for creating wind energy and it is best located at Lake Erie. Aside from this the state also has the right assets to put the project in reality since they have the best workforce and manufacturing strengths.
GE will be the on to provide the drive wind turbines to the 20 megawatt offshore wind project on the Ohio waters of Lake Erie initiated by LEEDCo. The GE will be putting up five wind turbines 6 miles north of Cleveland Browns stadium. The 200 feet tall turbines are expected to generate 20 megawatts of power by 2010 and 1,000 megawatts by 2020.
The 4 year partnership of GE and LEEDCo would establish offshore wind industry on Lake Erie and eventually to other places. America is known to have the world’s largest on shore wind industry but is being left behind by other countries because of very high expenses, weighty regulations, oppositions and other technological challenges. Wind power however accounts only for less than one percent of the America’s energy consumption but it is already gaining position to some companies and to the local government.
In the middle of the partnership of GE and LEEDCo, is GE’s next gen turbine which is a 4-megawatt machine intended for offshore deployment. The turbine is the largest turbine that has direct drive technology, which the company gained after acquiring Scan Wind.
The two organizations would not only aim to provide off wind shore energy in Lake Erie but would also be active in work advocacy, public policy issue regarding offshore wind energy and accelerate the growth of America’s offshore wind industry.
The collaboration is a big initiative from the two organizations that created a big step in enhancing the hidden capability of Ohio waters such as the Lake Erie. The project is also seen as a great opportunity for more jobs in Ohio as well as possible economic growth for the state.
You might also like
 |
 |
 |
 |
Loading ...