Lake Erie Energy Development Company (LEEDCO) has announced its decision to suspend the development of its Icebreaker Wind offshore wind project due to rising costs and obstacles and delays caused by regulators.
The icebreaker wind project is located 8 to 10 miles north of the coast of Cleveland, Ohio, and has a capacity of 2075 MW, 6 units to be installed 345 MW wind turbine. The wind farm is operated by Leedco with FredOlsen Renewables is expected to create 500 jobs and bring 2$5.3 billion in earnings. If completed, the project would be the first and possibly the only freshwater offshore wind farm in the United States.
The offshore wind farm was originally launched around 2009 and has experienced many obstacles in its development. At first, the Ohio Electric Siting Commission ruled that the wind farm must stop operating at night to protect the birds, after which Leedco fought a lengthy battle and filed a lawsuit. Leedco stressed that the company has carried out 18 months of extensive research and review to ensure that the wind farm is "in the public interest".
In 2020, the company finally received preliminary approval from regulators in Ohio. The approval document contains more than 30 regulations, including that wind farms must be shut down at night from March to November to prevent potential harm to birds and bats living in the area during the summer months. After an appeal, Leedco was able to revoke some of the provisions, including this provision.
In addition, in 2022, two local residents filed a lawsuit in the name of opposing the committee's approval of the project, which was dismissed by the Ohio Supreme Court.
It is understood that the icebreaker wind project has been approved by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Electric Siting Commission before the suspension was made.
However, Leedco announced in December that years of delays and hurdles had combined to prevent the icebreaker wind project from proceeding. Higher interest rates have also led to higher project financing costs, and Leedco is a small not-for-profit company, unlike the multinationals that develop most of the world's wind farms. In addition, its private development partners (the builders and operators of the wind farms) have stopped funding the icebreaker wind project.
Ronn Richard, chairman of Leedco's board of directors, said in a press release that the decision to suspend the project was only temporary and that the company was exploring other ways to make it possible for the project to progress at a later stage. The company cited the need for renewable energy in Ohio and the Great Lakes, which will be followed by a large number of offshore wind turbines.