The Lake Erie Energy Development Co has selected MHI Vestas to supply six V126-3.45MW turbines for the 20.7MW Icebreaker freshwater offshore project in Ohio.
Leedco president Lorry Wagner told reNEWS a decision has been made to use the Danish hardware, completing a shift away from the previously selected Siemens.
“For our purposes the V126 had a much higher energy output than the Siemens 113,” said Wagner. “It’s also a very well-proven offshore product.”
Icebreaker is expected to have a capacity factor of about 43% and generate about 77,400 MWh of electricity a year, according to the federal Department of Energy, which is conducting an environmental assessment along with the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Coast Guard.
The turbines will be mounted on monobucket foundations supplied by Universal Foundation, a subsidiary of Icebreaker partner Fred Olsen.
The DoE has awarded about $51m to the demonstration scheme, located about 14km off Cleveland.
Leedco has selected Cleveland-based Middough Inc, to provide engineering services for the design and construction of land-based electric facilities.
A 14km submarine export cable will interconnect with a new project substation at the existing Cleveland Public Power Lake Road substation.
The Port of Cleveland has been proposed as the quayside staging area for construction while the Great Lakes Towing facility on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland will house an operations and maintenance center.
Leedco holds a 50-year submerged lands lease from the state and is in the process of updating and completing state and federal permit applications.
The developer expects to complete permitting in 2017 and construct the $125m project in 2018.
Image: Leedco plans to build the Lake Erie demonstration project in 2018
MHI Vestas lands US Icebreaker
EXCLUSIVE: Leedco to install V126 turbines at 20.7MW Lake Erie demo
By EBS