The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) has appealed a ruling made by the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) last month on the 21MW Icebreaker offshore wind farm on Lake Erie in the US that the former said may be “fatal” for the project.
LEEDCo said it has asked the OPSB for a rehearing to reconsider the decision, which, the corporation added, “disregarded the findings of its own technical staff and added a project killing condition”.
The board approved the project on 21 May, but on condition that Icebreaker’s six turbines are switched off from dusk to dawn from March until November to project wildlife.
LEEDCo president Dave Karpinski said: “The efforts to justify this decision simply don’t wash.
“This dooming condition was added to the permit at the 11th hour after we spent years hammering out every detail of our operations with the OPSB Staff and the wildlife experts at ODNR. Why?
“We are respectfully asking every member of the board to carefully review our appeal and review this condition to make sure that they fully understand the facts that played out before they went along with the 21 May decision.
“Perhaps the evidence wasn’t fully conveyed or some technical details were lost in translation.”
He added that if the decision is not corrected, the “repercussions … go far beyond this project”.
Karpinski said: “Should the decision stand, the implication is that evidence can be ignored, technical staff and expert testimony can be disregarded – setting a dangerous precedent for any project going before this board that controls the energy fate of millions of Ohioans.”
LEEDCo is developing the project with Fred Olsen Renewables.