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Offshore Wind in the
Great Lakes
NAME
Great Lakes Wind Collaborative
DATE
Technical Details
Turbine Size
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2.5MW Turbine:
75-100m (246328ft) hub height
3MW: 100-120m
(328-394ft) hub
height
Compared to onshore, offshore
turbines…
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Tend to be larger, but shorter.
Require helipads or landings for maintenance activities.
Have a designated area for maintenance workers.
Are built to withstand waves, currents, and ice
formation.
Might use Conditional Monitoring Systems.
Might have more redundant systems.
House the transformer in the nacelle.
30 meters wide
130 meters long
48 meter legs can extend
5 meters into the lakebed
Installation Vessels
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St. Lawrence
Max draft: 26.5 ft (should be min?)
 Max beam: 78 ft
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Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
Max draft: 7 ft (should be min?)
 Max beam: 110 ft
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Foundations
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3-30 meters.
Technology based on onshore.
Three kinds: gravity, monopile,
suction bucket/caisson
Loadings unique to the offshore
environment:
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Wave loading
Static and dynamic ice loading
Water currents
Require more analysis and
modeling to understand the impact
to the foundation
Suction Bucket or Caisson
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Tubular steel foundation
installed by sealing the top
of the steel bucket and
creating a vacuum inside.
Hydrostatic pressure
difference and the dead
weight of the structure
cause the bucket to
penetrate the soil.
New technology.
Shallow water
Gravity Base Foundations
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Steel or concrete foundations
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Steel is lighter and normally filled with granular
material.
Concrete is heavier – handling can be difficult.
Relies on weight of structure to resist overturning
Ballast added after placement
Shallow water with proper lakebed preparation
essential
conical collars (ice cones)
Might be cost prohibitive in 15+ meters
Steel Gravity Foundation
Monopile Foundations
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Large, thick-walled, single steel pipe
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Driven or drilled 25 -30 m embedment
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4.5 - 6 m diameter steel tube typical
Wall thickness 30 -60 mm
Water depth experience to 25 m
Stiff soils only (e.g. sand)
Most common type, especially in shallow water.
Minimal footprint
Large barges, specialized equipment.
Ice cones
Transition pieces can be steel, concrete, or composite.
Monopile Foundation
Gravity vs. Monopile
Construction phase
Gravity base foundation
Monopile foundation
Onshore construction
Local to site
No constraints
Transport offshore
More complex
Lift onto barge
Pre-placement activities
Lakebed preparation
None
Placement
Lift or float-over
Lift
Fixing
Grouting
Pile driving
Installation of tower / turbine
Potential obstruction to lift
No hindrance to lifting
Conical collars / ice cones
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Conical shaped structures at water level.
Cones cause ice to bend and break up.
Ice thickness:
Nearshore Lake Michigan: 0 to 0.5 meters
 Deepwater Lake Michigan: 0 to .15 meters
 Lake Superior: .05 to .8 meters
 Green Bay: .2 to .7 meters
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Transmission
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Voltage is stepped up to distribution voltage (2535 kV) using a transformer at each turbine.
Turbines are then connected to an offshore
substation.
Substation steps up to transmission voltage
(400-800 kV)
One cable connects to the mainland.
Cables
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Can be several medium voltage cables (34.5 kV),
or one or more high (100-200 kW) or extra high
voltage (>200 kV) cables.
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Redundant cables built in in case of failure
Higher voltage cables require insulation
self-contained, fluid-filled (SCFF) cable
 Fluid biodegrades in 30-60 days if there is a leek.
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Cables
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Buried in the lake bed
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Laid on the lake bottom
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Water jets create a trench and bottom material is allowed to sink back into
the trench
Rocky bottoms at deeper depths
Issues to consider:
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6 to 10 feet
Jet plow rolls and fluidizes the lake bottom material in a narrow path.
Sand or clay bottoms.
Overhead lake traffic
ice scouring
Disruption of lakebed and stirring up of pollution
Cable can be covered with concrete mattresses or rock.
Horizontal directional boring to pull the cable to shore.
Environmental Considerations
Environmental Considerations
 Bird
& Bat
 Fish
 Lakebed
Alterations
 Habitat Alterations
 Noise
Bird & Bat
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Risk of collision/barotrauma
Short-term habitat loss during construction
Long-term habitat loss due to disturbance by
O&M
Habitat fragmentation
Formation of barriers to migration and daily
movements
Fisheries Research
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Research on aquatic habitat and spawning grounds
focused on the nearshore.
less research on the open water.
Most research related to the effects of wind turbines is
marine-focused.
Habitat disruption more likely during transmission
installation.
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Frac-outs: excessive pressure causes the vertical release of
drilling mud through fractures.
Most commercial and recreation fishing takes place
within 3 miles of shore.
Fisheries Research
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Foundations will likely provide additional habitat for
some beneficial fishes for possibly food, shelter from
predation, nursery areas and spawning.
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Lake trout will spawn on artificial reefs within a few months
of construction
yellow perch and smallmouth bass were observed using the
artificial reefs located within the study area.
Might provide additional recreational fishing
opportunities.
Might cause an increase in the species richness,
abundance or biomass of the benthic community.
Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force. 2008. Great Lakes Wind Energy Center
Feasibility Study: Initial Ecological Assessment. Prepared by DLZ. September.
Fisheries Best Practices
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If turbines are built in spawning areas,
foundation materials should mimic the substrate.
If not in these areas, planners should consider
materials that are conductive to spawning.
Construction and maintenance should avoid
spawning times.
Fishing activities in general should avoid
turbines.
Primary Fish Species of Commercial and Recreational Interest in Lake
Superior and Lake Michigan
Habitat Fragmentation/Disruption
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No evidence of any detrimental effects on
coastal processes from the Danish experience.
Numerous turbines could affect direction or
velocity of currents, plankton, sediment,
nutrients, and fish.
Noise
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Noise from wind turbines will travel underwater
and could disturb aquatic organisms.
Studies from existing offshore turbines note that
the noise is very low frequency, and many
species are actually unable to hear it.
Noise from construction activities could disrupt
organisms in the short-term.
Federal Issues
U.S. Federal Involvement
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Rivers and Harbors Act, Section 10
Prohibits the obstruction or alteration of navigable
water of the U.S without a permit.
 Army Corps of Engineers is the lead permitting
agency (MMS is the lead on the Outer Continental
Shelf)
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Martin v. Waddell
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states own navigable and tidal waters and their
underlying land for the common use of the people
of the state.
U.S. Federal Involvement
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Submerged Lands Act
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Great Lakes states have jurisdiction up to the
international boundaries.
Coastal Zone Management Act
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CZM Programs should include “a planning process
for energy facilities likely to be located in, or which
may significantly affect, the coastal zone, including a
process for anticipating the management of the
impacts resulting from such facilities.”
Legislative Authority
Lead Agencies/Office
Major Program/Permit
National Historic
Preservation Act
DOI, State Historic
Preservation Offices
Consultation on the protection of historic
resources — places, properties, shipwrecks
Estuary Protection Act
FWS
Conserves estuarine areas
Fish and Wildlife
Coordination Act
FWS
Consultation with FWS when bodies of water are
controlled or modified
Migratory Bird Treaty Act
& Bald and Golden Eagle
Protection Act
FWS, Migratory Bird
Conservation Commission
Requires determination of no “taking” or harming
of birds
Endangered Species Act
FWS, NOAA National Marine
Fisheries Service
Consultation on action that may jeopardize
threatened & endangered (listed) species or
adversely modify critical habitat
Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation &
Management Act
NOAA National Marine
Fisheries Service
Conserves & manages fish stocks to a 200-mile
fishery conservation zone & designates essential
fish habitat
National Marine Sanctuary
Act (Title III)
NOAA, National Ocean Service
Designates marine protected areas
Coastal Zone
Management Act
NOAA State Coastal Zone
Management Agencies
Requires determination of consistency with the
coastal program of the affected state
Clean Water Act
USACE, EPA
Regulates discharges of pollutants into the waters
of the United States
Rivers and Harbors Act –
Section 10
USACE District Office
Prohibits the obstruction or alteration of navigable
water of the U.S without a permit
National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA)
USACE District Office
, President’s Council on
Environmental Quality
Requires submission of an environmental review
for all major federal actions that may significantly
affect the quality of the human environment
Statewide/Provincial Planning
Efforts
Wind Turbine Placement
Favorability Analysis Map
Ohio Coastal Management Program
Ohio Criteria
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Shipping lanes,
fairways, harbors
Distance from shore
Raptor nests
Important bird areas
Natural heritage
observances
Fish habitat and
bathymetry
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Reefs and shoals
Substrates
Sand and gravel
mining
Military zones
Confirmed shipwrecks
Sport fishery effort
Commercial fishery
trap net lifts
When?
Construction 2012-13
Ontario Criteria
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National/Provincial Park
Protected area
Water depth 5 m <X< 30 m
Wind speed > 8.0 m/s
Airports
Radiocommunication
Systems
Population density
Distance from shore
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Commercial waterway and
ferry route
Protected shipwreck
Submerged utility line
Shoreline
Great Lakes coastal wetland
Conservation reserve
Environmental Area of
Concern
Important Birding Areas
Michigan Dry Run
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Examined Michigan’s current state of readiness
to permit large-scale offshore wind facilities
Two different areas of the Great Lakes
nearshore Lake Huron
 remote offshore Lake Michigan
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Final Report published May 2008
GLOW Council
Great Lakes Offshore Wind Council
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created by Executive Order No. 2009-1
serves as an advisory body within the Michigan
Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth
(DELEG)
Identify criteria that can be used to review applications
for offshore wind development.
Identify criteria for identifying and mapping areas that
should be categorically excluded from offshore wind
development as well as those areas that are most
favorable to such development
September 1, 2009
www.michiganglowcouncil.org/
Great Lakes Offshore Wind Council
Also tasked to…
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Recommend a process for engaging stakeholders
Summarize lessons learned from American and international
offshore experience
Identify options for compensating the public for bottomland
leasing and wind rights for wind energy systems
Make recommendations for legislation and for changes in
administrative rules and policies related to the siting and
development of offshore wind energy systems
Make a recommendation as to whether Michigan should support
the preparation of a programmatic environmental impact
statement by the federal government for permitting offshore
wind development in the Great Lakes basin
Provide an estimate of the costs and description of the benefits
of continuing the work of the council, if the council deems it
advisable
Wind Working Groups
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Came out of Wind Powering America initiative,
within the Department of Energy.
Commitment to dramatically increase the use of
wind energy.
Wind Working Groups are organization whose
purposes are to promote wind energy generally.
Each one is different.
IL, IN, MI, OH, PA
Great Lakes Wind Collaborative
Multi-sector coalition of wind
energy stakeholders working to
facilitate the sustainable
development of wind power in
the binational Great Lakes region.
5 Workgroups: Offshore; Transmission; Economic
Development; Wind Atlas; and Environmental
Planning, Siting, and Permitting
www.glc.org/energy/wind
Thanks! Questions?
Name
email
734-971-9135