March, 2010

GLWC Headlines

GLWC 3rd Annual Meeting to be held in Cleveland
The Great Lakes Wind Collaborative is gearing up for its 3rd Annual Meeting which will take place on September 19-21, 2010, in Cleveland, Ohio on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. The Annual Meeting is an exciting opportunity for all Great Lakes wind stakeholders to discuss timely issues and network among colleagues in the region.

This year's event will also include sponsorship/exhibit opportunities. Email John Hummer (jhummer@glc.org) or Becky Pearson (bpearson@glc.org) if you would more information about these opportunities.

Spotlight: GLWC Best Practices to accelerate wind in the Great Lakes region
In fall 2009, the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative Commission was awarded $99,740 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program to identify and promote Best Practices to Accelerate Wind Power in the Great Lakes Region and Beyond. The project will identify and promote the policies and practices to increase market acceptance of wind across the region. The GLWC will partner with other regional organizations to ensure that best practices developed reaches those best positioned to use them in developing policy at the state and local level. Additionally, the project will coordinate with other groups that received awards under the same funding opportunity to ensure timely and effective delivery of products and services.

The project had a formal kickoff meeting and webinar in October and has hit the ground running. The project team is being led by Larry Hartman with the Office of Energy Security of the Minnesota Department of Commerce and Angela Piner with HDR One Company. A Summary and Analysis of State and Provincial Land-Based Wind Farm Siting Policy in the Great Lakes Region has been completed and is available online as a background document to support this project. The project team has also developed criteria for evaluating what constitutes a “best” practice and is beginning to compile a list of candidate best practices.

Do you know of a policy or practice that should be considered a “Best Practice?” Nominate a “best practice” by sending an email to vpebbles@glc.org .

Ontario moves forward with Green Energy Act and feed-in tariffs
A highlight of 2009 for the Great Lakes region was the passage of Ontario’s Green Energy Act (GEA) on May 14. Goals for the GEA include the elimination of all coal-fired generation by 2014 and the creation of 50,000 direct and indirect jobs. This law enables new renewable energy projects to be brought online through a streamlined approval process, calls for the development of a Feed-in Tariff Program and encourages a culture of conservation. Additionally, the law supports the development of Ontario’s green economy by building capacity and community ownership opportunities for First Nations; requiring domestic content for renewable energy projects; and creating incentives for small scale renewable projects. For more information about the Green Energy Act visit www.greenenergyact.ca

The Ontario Power Authority's new Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Program came into effect on October 1, 2009. Used as a policy tool, a FIT encourages the development of renewable energy sources by guaranteeing grid access, long-term contracts for the electricity produced and purchase prices based on the cost of development and operation. Ontario FIT prices vary for different renewable technologies and project sizes. For example, offshore wind energy is priced at 19 cents per kilowatt, and onshore wind energy is priced at $13.5 cents per kilowatt. Furthermore, the FIT Program enshrines the “take or pay” principle, so generators are paid for all the energy they produce thereby making renewables a top priority for the province. The start up period for the FIT Program closed on December 1st, 2009, and the OPA is currently reviewing a large number of applications. For more information about Ontario’s FIT Program visit http://fit.powerauthority.on.ca

Offshore wind planning advances in the Great Lakes region
The Great Lakes region has seen increased activity in the past few months in developing offshore wind power. The Great Lakes Wind Collaborative and its Offshore Wind Workgroup tracks these activities and communicates key decisions and new developments to its members and stakeholders.

Michigan
In late November, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) with up to $2 million in funding – aimed at universities and nonprofit organizations – is to fund one or more projects that will “conduct testing and/or perform studies to explore the feasibility and advance the deployment of offshore wind technologies” in Michigan’s Great Lakes waters. All project studies and test data will be available for public use at the end the grant term. Grants are expected to be awarded by the MPSC in January 2010. The grant period is expected to begin in February and end in February 2013. The proposal submittal period under this RFP is closed as of the writing of this newsletter.

On Michigan’s west coast, a Minnesota-based wind farm developer, Scandia Wind Offshore LLC, held two rounds of public information sessions – one in December and one in January – to discuss a proposed 1,000 megawatt wind farm on Lake Michigan offshore near the town of Ludington in Mason County (about half-way up Michigan’s Lake Michigan coastline). The company does not yet have control of the site designated in the plan. Representatives from Scandia Wind Offshore met with residents to present a preliminary outline of the Aegir Offshore Wind Farm Project. The proposed wind farm will cost more than $3 billion and is being planned with Norwegian offshore wind developer Havgul Clean Energy. According to Scandia officials, a majority of attendees at the meeting were skeptical of the wind farm plans. Scandia is continuing its process of engaging the public and local officials to determine their level of support.

New York
In early December, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) issued a RFP “to provide electric capacity and energy from a Great Lakes offshore wind generating project.” In support of Governor Paterson’s goal to substantially reduce New York State’s dependence on fossil fuel for electric generation and to expand industrial economic development opportunities in upstate New York, the Authority is soliciting proposals for the development of utility scale (120 MW to 500 MW) wind generating projects in New York State waters of Lake Erie and/or Lake Ontario. The projects would interconnect with the transmission facilities of the NYPA, National Grid, New York State Electric & Gas and/or Rochester Gas and Electric. NYPA would purchase the full output of the project under a long term Power Purchase Agreement. The proposal deadline under this RFP is June 1, 2010. See the NYPA website for the complete RFP.

Ohio
Ohio’s Great Lakes Energy Task Force issued a RFP January 21 for environmental studies on a proposed Lake Erie offshore wind project. (See the Ohio state update below for details.) The Task Force, part of the Cuyahoga County government, aims to have regulatory issues resolved by the end of 2010 and a project built by 2013, according to Steven Dever, executive director of the task force. The wind farm is designed to be a pilot project with a capacity of 5-20 megawatts.  It is planned for the waters of Cuyahoga County, near Cleveland. The project must obtain permission and a submerged land lease from the Ohio Power Siting Board and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

In the summer of 2009 the Task Force unveiled its $1.2 million, year-long feasibility study to evaluate offshore wind in Lake Erie. The final report from the study indicates that it is feasible to develop an offshore wind pilot project in Lake Erie with an estimated cost between $77 and $92 million. Cuyahoga County and the Great Lakes Energy Task Force will utilize the study to establish a wind energy cluster for Northern Ohio.

The report presents the geological, ecological, historical, legal, community and financial feasibility of installing wind turbines in Lake Erie and developing an affiliated applied research and development center. It indicates that a pilot project is technically and environmentally feasible, pending further studies of selected issues, approvals by regulatory agencies, and solutions to make the project more economically viable. The Task Force collaborated with six local entities to fund the feasibility study. Contributors included the Cleveland Foundation, the Fund for Our Economic Future via NorTech, the City of Cleveland, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, Case Western Reserve University and Cuyahoga County. The project team is in the process of evaluative logistics.

Ontario
In Ontario, the Trillium Power Wind Corporation continues its efforts on Trillium Power Wind 1, proposed for 28km off the shores of northeastern Lake Ontario. The project is slated to deliver 710 MW of electricity – enough to supply at least 300,000 Ontario homes. On top of that, in July 2009, the company quietly released information on its website on three other offshore wind developments called Trillium Power Wind 2; The Great Lakes Array; and The Superior Array. Of these additional three proposed projects, only the location of the Superior Array project has been disclosed – and only broadly in that it is being sited for Lake Superior.

Meanwhile, Toronto Hydro Energy has received approval to construct a wind research platform (anemometer) approximately 1.2 km offshore in Lake Ontario to measure the wind resource. The platform will consist of a structural steel platform located in approximately 15 meters of water, and extending approximately 4 meters above the lake water level with a width of approximately 5 meters. The platform contains the anemometer instrument, auxiliary power system, and communication and navigation beacons. The wind resource will be studied over a two year period to determine whether a wind project is economically viable in this location. This offshore wind research project has been supported, in part, by various groups including Toronto Atmospheric Fund, The City of Toronto and Natural Resources Canada. No decision to proceed with a potential offshore wind farm has been made. Any further projects (i.e. an offshore wind farm) are subject to a separate environmental assessment process with full agency and public participation.

Proposed Canadian projects are largely a result of the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) seeking new sources of electricity supply. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is encouraging the development of renewable energy generation from wind and water sources through the lease of provincial crown land. Under that process, Toronto Hydro is investigating the feasibility of a wind farm offshore in Lake Ontario.

Workgroup Updates
If you are interested in participating in any of the five workgroups of the GLWC please contact the respective staff lead noted below each workgroup update.

For more information, see the EPSP Workgroup wiki or contact staff lead Becky Pearson at bpearson@glc.org.

Economic Development

The Economic Development Workgroup had a productive 2009. A major milestone was a full-day webinar on the economic development aspects of wind energy, held in June 2009 with presentations from 9 of the 10 Great Lakes states and provinces. Other activities include providing economic development input into the online Great Lakes Wind Atlas, and working with states to generate new economic development output data based on 1,000 MW of wind in each state. Although several Great Lakes jurisdictions have surpassed the 1,000 MW mark, this is a good benchmark to show the number of construction jobs, lifetime jobs and other economic benefits that accrue from that wind development. Ultimately, the Economic Development Workgroup aims to produce an updated regional analysis of economic development benefits for the eight-state region. A 2008 analysis by NREL showed $9.8 billion in lifetime economic output from 1,000 MW of wind in each of the Great Lakes states (construction and 20 years operation). However, much has changed since that analysis was developed. For example, the 2008 analysis assumed no regional manufacturing. Since that time there has been significant growth in regional manufacturing for the wind industry. Also, a more robust regional analysis will likely show much greater impacts because it will account for the benefits associated with a larger, more diverse economy, as opposed to the sum of individual states which was used for the 2008 analysis. The Economic Development Workgroup is chaired by Dave Loomis of Illinois State University.

For more information, see the Economic Development Workgroup wiki or contact staff lead Victoria Pebbles at vpebbles@glc.org.

Offshore Wind