The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (Leedco) is finalizing details of a $3.7m award by the US Department of Energy for the 21MW Icebreaker freshwater offshore wind farm.
This is the third grant for the demonstration project, which will be matched by a $1.9m contribution by Leedco and partner Fred Olsen Windcarrier, and brings total DOE funding to $10.7m to date.
The developer has finalized detailed engineering for the monobucket foundation and will use the latest award over the next 12 months to complete engineering for secondary steel such as ladders, decks, lights and crane, Leedco VP operations Dave Karpinksi told reNEWS.
The funds will also help Leedco complete electrical engineering for the transmission cable and onshore switching gear as well as obtain permits by state and federal regulators.
“It’s really the complete package to get us to the final engineering documents,” said Karpinski.
Leedco expects to secure permits and have firm bids for construction by April 2017.
The developer plans to construct the five-turbine project in summer 2018 and start commercial operation in the fourth quarter of that year.
The project is still in the running for additional federal funding up to $40m. DOE officials are reviewing progress made by three other offshore wind demonstration projects this month. The trio has already received extensions and if any cannot proceed, Icebreaker could jump into one of the top spots.
Image: Universal Foundation
