Who Will Build the World's First Fresh Water Wind Farm?
This is an exciting time for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Our region is about to realize a huge untapped energy resource—the strong winds that blow across the lake.
With every passing day, momentum is building in a movement to tap this abundant source of clean renewable power. Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland, The Cleveland Foundation and Case Western Reserve University have come together to drive forward an initiative to build the world’s first freshwater offshore wind farm. This visionary program would build an array of tall elegant wind turbines a few miles out from Cleveland’s lakeshore. It would be an achievement that would bring honor, prestige and esteem to Cleveland, and a great stimulus to the regional economy.
A few years ago, to the north, some Canadian companies had begun to focus on developing this huge power supply themselves, and had appeared to be proceeding rapidly towards the establishment of a number of offshore wind farms. However, their initiatives had been stalled by the imposition of a moratorium, in November 2006. This was instituted in response to expressions of concern by some Ontario residents about the possible impact on butterfly and bird migration routes, and on recreational boating and fishing.
The resulting brake on projects dismayed the wind developers, who were already noting the growing interest in wind power generation south of their border. According to the Toronto Star, “The wisdom of halting development was called into question when it was discovered that some U.S. states, such as Ohio, were actively moving forward with offshore projects in Lake Erie despite the Ontario policy.” On Jan. 17, Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources announced the lifting of this controversial moratorium on the development of offshore wind projects on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes.
The efforts in Cuyahoga County have thus prompted a renewal of interest by the Canadians in developing their own offshore potential, along the north coasts of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. While any development of wind power on our Great Lakes will be seen as beneficial to the planet as a whole, there will be a particular distinction associated with the country or state that builds the world’s first freshwater wind farm. The international attention generated by such a move will stimulate not just business and job growth, but the recognition that those taking that initiative will be world leaders in addressing humanity’s need for the production of sustainable, non-polluting energy.
The question is, will that leadership come from Ontario or from Ohio?
For more information contact Sarah Taylor at 216-321-7465,
sarah@windustrious.org or visit www.windustrious.org. The purpose of the Windustrious website is to promote the establishment of the world’s first fresh-water wind farm in Lake Erie, off-shore from Cleveland, Ohio.