(The First) Wind Farm Planned For Lake Erie

Submitted by Charles Frost on Sat, 08/25/2007 - 14:34.

Lake Erie is on average relatively shallow and has one of the most productive and popular
Great Lakes sport fisheries. When it comes to walleye (the best eating freshwater fish that ever existed) and yellow perch,
Erie is "hot". So hot, that this Lake Erie based wind farm proposal could make the Cape Wind project proposal look like a playground scuffle, unless the sponsors properly look after any fish and aquatic life issues early on. Because this is the first of many wind farms that will be proposed for
Erie, we can be sure.

 

"A German company that knows how to harness wind power is the best candidate to judge whether Lake Erie breezes can spin off power and jobs,
Cuyahoga County commissioners say. Commissioners voted Thursday to select a team led by juwi International to do a yearlong feasibility study of building wind turbines on the lake and establishing a wind-energy research center nearby."

 

"Commissioners also approved a deal with
Case Western Reserve University to run the research center, under Case's newly formed Great Lakes Institute for Energy Innovation...An energy-development task force formed by the commissioners one year ago has been pushing the wind turbine project. It would have an iconic array of up to 10 wind turbines spinning three miles or more off the shore of downtown
Cleveland."

 

"They would be the first wind turbines on fresh water in the world. More importantly, an affiliated research-and-development center would develop turbine design and technology for an industry that's in its early stages, officials say. That could attract wind-energy manufacturers and suppliers to the region, with the potential for hundreds of jobs."

 


We notice that juwi International already has opened a
Cleveland office. A sign of momentum. Via:: Cleveland Plain Dealer

From: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/the_first_wind.php

( categories: )

Windpower Wizardy

Submitted by Sudhir Kade on Sat, 08/25/2007 - 16:51.

This is great news.  My friend at Juwi, Brian Starry, and I met sometime back to discuss collaborative opportunities over a nice meal at downtown's Pickwick and Frolic.  I was thoroughly impressed with Juwi's community-based model and learning what Brian and Juwi had accomplished not just with the parent German firm but in several Kansas-based wind projects.  I look foward to touching base with Mr. Starry soon to catch up and learn about these developments more intimately - from what I had heard there were several land-based studies in the works as well!   I hope we manufacture the turbines here locally, of course - job potentials are so fantastic with this development becoming a reality on both land and lake... Thanks for the information, Bill!