Ohio regulators are reviewing an application for the 20.7MW Icebreaker freshwater offshore wind project in Lake Erie.
Icebreaker Windpower plans to install six MHI Vestas V126 3.45MW turbines about 13km off the coast of Cleveland.
Icebreaker was initiated by Lake Erie Energy Development Co (Leedco) and later acquired by Fred Olsen Renewables, which will construct, own and operate the demonstration project.
Leedco will continue to collaborate on the project.
The Ohio Power Siting board has kicked off a 60-day application completeness review. Public hearings will follow and the applicant expects a final siting permit decision later this year.
Icebreaker is also working on permits with the federal Energy Department, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Coast Guard and other state agencies.
The turbines will be mounted on steel mono-bucket foundations designed by Universal Foundation, a Fred Olsen subsidiary. Four US fabricators have been shortlisted to compete for the contract, according to regulatory filings.
Construction is slated to start in May 2018 with the project in service by November of that year.
The proponent expects the Icebreaker scheme will have a capacity factor of about 41.4%, generating some 75,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year.
Two-thirds of the output has been sold to Cleveland Public Power under a long-term power purchase agreement. The balance will be delivered to the grid operated by PJM and sold in the wholesale market or under bilateral power purchase agreements.
The $125m demo has been awarded $50.7m in federal funding.
Image: Leedco
