Posted on December 17, 2024
One year after the proposed Icebreaker Wind demonstration project in Lake Erie got shelved, there continues to be talk — but little movement — toward erecting commercial-scale offshore wind turbines in the Great Lakes.
During an hourlong webinar last week, Cora Sutherland, interim assistant director of the Center for Water Policy at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, provided listeners with an overview of some differences between planning for offshore projects in the oceans and the Great Lakes as well as a summary of a recent National Science Foundation-funded workshop that explored the potential in the Great Lakes.
Although she said there’s “a lot of momentum for offshore wind” and “a lot of opportunity” for it in the Great Lakes region, she also made it clear there are no pending projects.
“The Great Lakes offer a large resource that is currently untapped,” Ms. Sutherland said.
Her talk was part of a quarterly water symposium series sponsored by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium, and the Cleveland-based Council of the Great Lakes Region.
A good case study for the Great Lakes region is the Block Island Wind Farm in the Atlantic Ocean, Ms. Sutherland said.
The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. The five-turbine project is located 3.8 miles from Block Island, Rhode Island. It began operating eight years ago this month.
Planning for it and the Icebreaker project began close to each other, Ms. Sutherland said.
But the Icebreaker project ultimately failed because of costs, management issues, and other challenges, including permitting.
