The Ohio Power Siting Board has approved and adopted the stipulation and recommendation between Icebreaker Wind Inc., staff and other parties and has directed that a certificate be issued to Icebreaker Wind for construction of a new 20.7 MW wind-powered electric generation facility.
The certificate enables the company to construct a six-turbine wind farm in Lake Erie. This project represents not just the first offshore wind project in Ohio, but also the first freshwater offshore wind project in North America.
As described by Icebreaker, this is a small-scale demonstration project that will provide valuable information as to how offshore wind facilities interact with the environment. Icebreaker explains that the ultimate goal of this project is to assess whether large-scale wind facilities are viable in Lake Erie and other Great Lakes.
While the company notes that the probable environmental impact can be assessed, the actual impacts of the facility are still unknown. This is expected because, as a demonstration project, the aim of the facility is to gather knowledge that will better inform the company and the public going forward.
To read the full transcript of the Ohio Power Siting Board’s approval of the Icebreaker Wind facility, click here.
