An Ohio regulatory agency has dropped a requirement that would have banned a 20.7-megawatt offshore wind farm in Lake Erie from operating at night, Kallanish Energy reports.
That was a major and surprising reversal by the Ohio Power Siting Board.
There had been media reports that the state board had been prepared to stand by its earlier decision against nighttime operations.
Last May, the state board had conditionally approved the Icebreaker Windpower Inc. with its six turbines near Cleveland, Ohio. But the board had ruled that the turbines could not operate at night from March 1 to Nov. 1 to protect birds and bats.
That requirement would make the project uneconomical and could kill the $126 million project, said officials of Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., the non-profit group behind the project that goes back 20 years.
That ban was also not supported by the Ohio Power Siting Board staff or the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, although it was adopted by the state board.
The ban on nighttime operations could be lifted after radar data on the birds and bats is collected and analyzed, the board said.
It was among 33 conditions imposed on the project.
On Thursday, the board voted unanimously to remove the night-operating restriction, after Icebreaker Windpower appealed the decision.
The motion to rescind the night ban was offered by board member Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
A total of 32 politicians in Northeast Ohio signed a letter backing the wind project.
The next step is for the non-profit group to develop protocols with state agencies to protect migratory birds and bats from turbines before the project can proceed, officials said.
Other details must also be worked out by the non-profit group and the state board.
The turbines would be located eight to 10 miles offshore in Lake Erie. The project includes a 12-mile underwater cable to connect the turbines with onshore electric facilities.
The pilot project would be the first offshore, freshwater wind farm in the United States.
This post appeared first on Kallanish Energy News.
