GE lands Lake Erie wind development project
General Electric and the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo) on Monday rolled out a partnership to develop offshore wind farms in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie.
Under the deal, GE will provide wind turbines to LEEDCo's 20 megawatt Lake Erie wind project.
The statement, delivered at the American Wind Energy Association's annual conference in Dallas, is the first of what it likely to be a string of deals this week.
LEEDCo said the project would be off the shore of Lake Erie near Cleveland. The 20-megawatt wind farm is expected to be completed in 2012. LEEDCo said that it would follow that project up with more wind farms. The objective for LEEDCo is to bring 1,000 megawatts of wind power to Lake Erie by 2020.
Many of these wind projects are portrayed as a way to boost the local economy. LEEDCo along with Ohio's government are looking to wind power as a way to generate jobs and leverage an existing manufacturing base.
The Lake Erie project will use GE's next-gen 4-megawatt wind turbine, which is designed for offshore usage. LEEDCo and GE will also collaborate on making offshore wind energy economically viable in the Great Lakes area.
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com