OPSB Schedules Hearings on Icebreaker Offshore Wind Project

The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) will hold a hearing to allow the public to express their views about Icebreaker Windpower, Inc.’s application to construct a wind-powered electric generation facility in Lake Erie.

The local public hearing is scheduled for 8 November at the Cleveland City Hall, Cleveland, at 6 p.m. local time, OPSB said.

The adjudicatory hearing in this proceeding will begin at 10 a.m. on 17 November, at the offices of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Columbus.

Icebreaker Windpower is proposing to construct a wind farm which would consist of six MHI Vestas V126-3.45 MW wind turbine generators installed on mono bucket foundations some 8-10 miles off the Cleveland coastline.

The project would include an approximately 12-mile long submerged electric transmission line to transmit the electricity generated by the turbines to Cleveland Public Power’s onshore Lake Road substation.

The original developer of the Icebreaker Wind project was the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo). In 2016, LEEDCo partnered with Fred. Olsen Renewables (FOR) of Norway. FOR has established FORUSA and Icebreaker Windpower to be the owner, developer, and operator of Icebreaker Wind.

The project is expected to enter the construction phase in May 2018 and be completed by October 2018. The wind farm is scheduled to be commissioned by November 2018.