by Rebecca Walker — January 10, 2011—Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo), the non-profit organization spearheading Northeast Ohio’s efforts to develop a regional offshore wind sector, and Freshwater Wind, LLC, the private developer partnering with LEEDCo to catalyze this growth industry of the future, have signed an option with the State of Ohio to lease specified acreage for an initial offshore wind project in Lake Erie.
The signed lease option, which culminated from a detailed application process with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), gives LEEDCo and Freshwater Wind the exclusive right for up to four years to apply for and negotiate a final submerged land lease for the planned site of the initial wind project, approximately seven miles northwest of Cleveland Browns Stadium.
LEEDCo and Freshwater Wind expect to install five wind turbines at the proposed site beginning late 2012 in an initial project of approximately 20 megawatts of electric generating capacity. By 2020, LEEDCo aims to see 1,000 MW of offshore wind energy installed in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie, in the ramp up to an economically-competitive and self-sustaining market employing thousands of local citizens.
Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) is a regional non-profit corporation leading efforts to deploy offshore wind projects in Ohio waters of Lake Erie. For more information, see the Web site.
Freshwater Wind, formerly known as Great Lakes Ohio Wind, is the developer selected by LEEDCo for the Lake Erie offshore wind project. Freshwater Wind will work in cooperation with LEEDCo to engineer, finance, construct, install, and operate offshore wind in Lake Erie. For more information, see its Web site.
