OPSB Postpones Adjudicatory Hearing for Icebreaker Offshore Wind Project

The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) has postponed the adjudicatory hearing previously scheduled for Icebreaker Windpower, Inc.’s application to construct an offshore wind farm in Lake Erie, Ohio.

The postponement affects the adjudicatory hearing that was scheduled for 17 November 2017 at the offices of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to allow parties to the case to provide sworn testimony and cross-examine witnesses.

The OPSB postponed the adjudicatory hearing in response to a request from its staff to suspend the procedural schedule in this case to allow additional time to obtain more information from Icebreaker Windpower on the pre- and post-construction radar technology monitoring protocol selected for use at the project site for determining project impacts. The staff states that it needs this information to conclude its investigation of Icebreaker Windpower’s application and make its recommended findings in this case.

The hearing will be rescheduled at a later date, the OPSB said.

The postponement does not affect the local public hearing scheduled for 08 November 2017 at Cleveland City Council Chambers. The local public hearing will proceed as scheduled in order to afford the public an opportunity to testify about the proposed facility. Additionally, the OPSB will schedule a second public hearing when a new procedural schedule for the case is established.

Icebreaker Windpower proposes to construct six MHI Vestas wind turbines in Lake Erie, approximately 8 to 10 miles off the shore of Cleveland. The turbines proposed have a nameplate capacity rating of 3.45 megawatts (MW), resulting in a combined generating capacity of up to 20.7 MW.

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.