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Ohio

Updated July 2010

Contacts:

Overview of Status:

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation and General Electric have issued a RFP for a 20 MW project in Lake Erie. The Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners hired JW Great Lakes Wind LLC to conduct an extensive feasibility study, which will build off of earlier reports and studies.

Proposed Projects:

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) and General Electric issued an RFP for 20 MW, $100 million wind farm off Cleveland. The project will use GE direct drive turbines and may be operational as soon as 2012. LEEDCo was established in 2009 through the joint efforts of the Cleveland Foundation, the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Lorain County, and NorTech.

LEEDCo describes itself as a "regional private nonprofit economic development corporation that is leading efforts to build, install, and deploy an offshore wind farm on Lake Erie while spurring economic development in Northern Ohio’s wind energy industry."

Policy and Regulation:

Governor Ted Strickland asked the Ohio legislature to remove the state property tax on wind and solar energy generating equipment.

Ohio has a RPS goal of 12.5% renewable energy by 2025.

The Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force was started in 2006 by the Commissioners of Cuyahogo County, Ohio.

Studies, Research and Development:

The Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners awarded JW Great Lakes Wind LLC (a subsidiary of juwi GmbH) an approximately $1 million contract to conduct a feasibility study for a Great Lakes Wind Energy Center. The full report was completed in April 2009 and is available here.

The Cuyahoga County Regional Energy Development Task Force prepared the report Building a New Energy Future: Recommendations for a Lake Erie Offshore Wind Energy Demonstration Project and Research Center. The report was completed in February 2007.

In 2005 AWS Truewind conducted a study titled Ohio's Offshore Wind Energy Development Potential: A Preliminary Feasibility Study. .

An existing water intake structure approximately three miles off downtown Cleveland has been used to collect wind data since 2005.