Plans for the US’s First Freshwater Wind Farm Shelved Due to Obstacles

 

A nearly 15-year long effort to develop what would have been the first, and possibly only, freshwater wind farm in the United States has been shelved with the developer lashing out at the obstacles and delays created by regulators. Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LeedCo) says it is not ready to concede but admits that the project is “financially untenable in the immediate future.”

LeedCo points to the long delays and legal challenges it faced while specifically calling out “a project killing condition by the Ohio Power Siting Board which significantly impeded the project.” The company was involved in an extended battle with regulators and legal appeals after the Ohio Power Sitting Board initially ruled that the wind farm would have to cease operations in the evening to protect birds. The company highlights the board spent 18 months of extensive study and review before determining that the wind farm “serves the public interest.” LeedCo says it invested great amounts of time reviewing any potential impact on birds.

The plan, which first began in around 2009, called for the development of a 20.75 MW wind farm they called Icebreaker Wind. Working with Fred. Olsen Renewables, they developed the proposal for a demonstration wind farm that would consist of six 3.45 MW turbines located eight to ten miles north of Cleveland, Ohio. The lease area is just over four acres in the lake.

“Additionally, Icebreaker Wind faced frivolous and costly lawsuits,” the company contends alleging they were “funded by dark money tied to fossil fuel interest.”

The company had finally won a tentative approval with more than 30 stipulations in 2020 from the Ohio regulators. Included in the terms was the condition that from March to November the wind farm would have to cease operations at night. The board said it was to prevent potential harm to birds and bats that live in the area during the summer months. On appeal, the company was able to have some of the conditions including that one reversed.

There was also a lawsuit regarding the environmental review and the board having proceeded with the approval. In 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected a case brought in the name of two residents contesting the board’s approval of the project.

LeedCo announced however on December 8 that the years of delays and obstacles had conspired to make it impossible to proceed with the project. They cited the increase in interest rates which had driven up financing costs noting that they are a small non-profit company unlike the multi-nationals developing most of the world’s wind farms. Due to the obstacles and delays, the company reported that its private development partner, which was to construct and operate the wind farm, also has ceased its financial support for Icebreaker Wind.

The company however is calling its decision to pause the project only temporary. LeedCo’s board is reported to be exploring alternative approaches that might make it possible for the project to progress at a later stage. Citing Ohio and the Great Lakes region's need for renewable energy, the company predicts there will eventually be a significant number of nearshore wind turbines situated in the Great Lakes.