Plans for Great Lakes offshore wind projects to be unveiled

One has to wonder why this article couldn't published by the Detroit Free Press with the announcement being that Michigan has unveiled similar plans.

This article was released by the Toronto Star Newspaper. They were of course referring to these technological advancements taking place in Canada, across the border.

Michigan is surrounded by the potential of projects like these. Part of the problem is the infrastructure is not in place to realize such advancements (see below). A large part of that infrastructure currently houses a vacuum in the "intellectual capacity" of our population to comprehend that they can be part of the solution.

We have been dumbed down because of being trained to be a cog in the wheel of an obsolete manufacturing system that (whats left of it) uses an obsolete and inefficient energy infrastructure.

What is needed is for the educational system to get in the dance of real-world learning opportunities and society has to also make substantial changes to support these efforts.

Education and technological advancements go hand in hand with hard work,creativity and the agreement to implement practical and effective changes to allow for these course corrections. Michigan and America, are you up for the challenge?


Premier reveals support for offshore energy plan

Bidding process details on lake power project unveiled next month

Jan 16, 2008 04:30 AM

Tyler Hamilton
Rob Ferguson
Staff Reporters
Toronto Star

Offshore wind could play an important role in the development of renewable energy resources in Ontario, says Premier Dalton McGuinty, who confirmed yesterday that an official announcement on wind power in the Great Lakes is coming soon.

"We've received advice that you can, in fact, do more to harness wind power – that you can harness that wind power offshore," the premier said.

"You don't just have to stay on land, and you can do it in a way that does not compromise ecosystems," he added.

McGuinty's comments follow a report in Tuesday's Toronto Star that the government will soon clear the way for the development of wind projects in the Great Lakes after a 14-month moratorium.

The government used the time to study, in collaboration with U.S. authorities, the potential environmental impact of such projects on bats, butterflies, aquatic species and bird migration routes.

Tapping wind energy in the Great Lakes to produce electricity has never been done, and a decision by Ontario to move forward with certain projects would likely attract worldwide attention, experts say.

Offshore wind farms, such as those proposed or already built near Denmark, the United Kingdom and British Columbia, are typically located in the ocean.

John Kourtoff, chief executive of Toronto-based Trillium Power Energy Corp., which wants to build Canada's largest wind farm in Lake Ontario about 15 kilometres offshore from Prince Edward County, said the winds found over bodies of water pack more energy and are more predictable than those over land.

And unlike an ocean, which is subject to extreme weather and wave activity, Lake Ontario offers a less volatile environment to construct and operate a wind farm.

Ontario currently has five major wind farms in operation with the potential to produce 400 megawatts of electricity – slightly less than an average-size natural gas plant. But according to a study by GE Energy, the intermittent nature of wind means the province can only rely on getting an average of 17 per cent, or 68 megawatts, of that power capacity during the summer.

Keith Stewart, a climate analyst at environmental group WWF-Canada, said the industry is getting better at predicting when the wind blows and choosing the right location for projects. "Every electron that comes out of a wind turbine means one less required from a fossil plant," he said.

In 2007, wind farms in Ontario supplied slightly more than one terawatt-hour of electricity compared to 0.44 terawatt-hours in 2006, more than doubling output, according to the Independent Electricity System Operator.

Put into context, Ontario consumed 152 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2007. This means wind still represented only 0.7 per cent of total electricity.

Still, Stewart sees this as an achievement. "Wind now shows up on the charts and doesn't simply get lumped into `other' any more," he said.

"And when you look in the pipeline, wind is poised to become a big new player, particularly if we can get some of that offshore stuff going."

The system operator said another 700 megawatts of wind projects are scheduled to come into service over the next 18 months, and by 2010 a total of 1,300 megawatts have been targeted.

Looking beyond that goal, the Ministry of Energy announced last August it had directed the Ontario Power Authority to procure another 2,000 megawatts of renewable power, much of it likely coming from wind.

Tim Taylor, a spokesperson for the power authority, said the draft details of the bidding process are scheduled for release in mid-February, and project proposals would be accepted in August. The government wants to procure about 500 megawatts in the first round, but the outcome could be higher.

Kourtoff plans to submit a bid, and is hopeful the power authority will see merit in his offshore proposal. Trillium's project calls for 140 massive turbines, likely five megawatts each in size, with a capacity to produce at least 700 megawatts of renewable power. The power could carry through an underwater high-voltage transmission cable to the Lennox Generating Station, near Bath.

The turbines would hardly be seen from shore, and would be erected on a shallow stretch of lake – no more than 12 metres deep. Kourtoff said studies so far indicate no impact on bird migration routes and a positive impact on aquatic species.

Trillium has raised about $5 million to help fund preliminary engineering and environmental studies, and has already hired engineering giant Amec Energy to oversee the project. There are also plans to take the company public.


MICHIGAN'S Energy Efficiency Competitive Efforts (ON-HOLD)

Report: Renewable energy policy delay could cost state $300M

Posted on 1/20/2008 9:54:10 AM

Kicking the energy efficiency and renewable energy issue into 2009 unresolved would cost state ratepayers a combined $300 million over time while putting another year of distance between Michigan and the nearly 25 states that have already passed legislation on this front, an environmental consultant told Lansing's MIRS news service Friday.

Martin Kushler, a former Public Service Commission official hired by environmentalists to help sell the energy issue in the Legislature, said the cost of energy efficiency programs may be three cents on the dollar, but the cost of a new power plant to pay for Michigan's projected increased energy use is as much as 10 cents on the dollar.

Without energy efficiency programs and renewable energy guideposts to give utility companies something to shoot for, Michigan will need to import more coal, oil and natural gas to feed the state's growing energy needs, Kushler said.

"The economics work. All of the major players on this issue have come to the conclusion that we need energy efficiency standards," Kushler said. "The only questions are around some of the details."

However, Kushler and Michigan Environmental Council officials are concerned that the utilities' insistence that controversial reform to the state's electric choice law be tied to the energy efficiency and renewable energy issue could sandbag good public policy that has across-the-aisle consensus.

HB 5525 and HB 5549 are sitting in the House Energy and Technology Committee as House leaders try to find agreement on whether Public Act 141 must be scrapped before any new power plants can be built in state. DTE Energy and Consumers Energy believe it should, but the alternative energy suppliers don't agree.

In the meantime, fellow Great Lakes states -- Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio, among others -- have adopted or are in the process of adopting energy efficiency programs and renewable portfolio standards that make them more attractive to the same alternative energy business Gov. Jennifer Granholm is desperately trying to bring to Michigan, the environmentalists claim.

Kushler is the director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. State officials across the country hire him to help them develop energy efficiency standards and programs administered by either state government or utilities that encourage customers through rebates and incentives to buy products that use less electricity.

He said states across the country are trying to leapfrog one another for the title of having the most aggressive energy goals while Michigan is still sitting in the starting gate.

"Michigan has to get ahead of the curve or it's going to fall farther behind," he said.

Sources tell MIRS the current plan in the House is to move either one or both of the bills in question in advance of the Governor's Jan. 30 State of the State address in order to give her some proof that the bills are moving through the system.

However, this move would mostly be symbolic if it happens. The most aggressive timetable coming out of the Republican-controlled Senate for the package is March. If the issue drags too far into the spring, the concern is it will get lost in annual wrangling over the budget and get pushed into 2009 once the House turns its focus on the 2008 election.

"That would be a shame," said MEC Spokesman Hugh McDiarmid Jr.
Kushler said the best legislative packages he's worked on have come as the result of bi-partisan agreement. The energy efficiency pieces passed in Minnesota and Wisconsin pass nearly unanimously.

The current Michigan proposals fall along those lines, with even the utilities and business organizations realizing it's more economical to find ways to limit electricity use than build more power plants.

The current plan in the House is to create roughly a $100 million pot of money paid by customers at $1 for every $100 of energy used. From this fund, customers can reap rebates and other economic incentives for buying more energy efficient products.

The renewable portfolio standards currently being discussed roughly match former MPSC Commission Chair Peter Lark's proposal to make 10 percent of Michigan's energy come from renewable sources by 2015, but with some added twists.

Comparatively, Kushler called these proposals "solid." They would push Michigan to within the Top 15 states nationally, but not to the top.

To be fair, though, Michigan hasn't had the infrastructure to advance energy efficiency whereas states like Minnesota have, he added.