Week 11 - Proposed Wind Turbine Locations

Ohio currently has some wind power producing capabilities. We are to study one existing wind farm and then use established criteria to determine if the Great Lakes should be the site of the next wind farm for the Midwest.

It turns out there are many sources of legitimate information about shipping lanes, average annual wind speeds, bird migration, parks, and more. For me, the issue was sifting through the volumes of data to get what I needed for the lab.
Some of the sources I used are: http://www.greenenergyohio.org/ , http://www.odh.ohio.gov/, www.bgohio.org/utility-director/trubines.html, and http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/sources/renewables/planning/onshore-wind/ornithology/page18703.html.


I found the reading rather interesting.  There was a considerable amount of literature the could be summed up as "not in my back yard".  However, if one read all the available literature one would find most of the complaints or issues could be easily remedied.  In some cases, technology and creative thinking fixed things.  An example was noise from the turbine blades was lowered by doing three things.  Turning the turbine 180 desgree, eliminated much of the wind noise, as did restyling the blades. Finally, insulating the inside further elminated the noise so that it was no longer an issue.

Bowling Green site
Using Google Earth one can view two wind machines located near a landfill 6 miles southwest of Bowling Green, OH. Bowling Green is home to Ohio’s first utility-sized wind farm. There are four turbines that are 257 feet tall. These turbines are as tall as a 30-story building and generate up to 7.2 megawatts of power — enough to supply electricity for some 3,000 residents. Located about six miles from the city, the turbines can be seen for miles and have become a local attraction.


Lake Erie
I selected two sites on Lake Erie just north of Cleveland OH. I based the selection on the site assessment index from the BERR planning criteria. http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/sources/renewables/planning/

- Average annual wind speed of between 16.8 and 17.9 mph
- There are no residences near the sites
- There are shipping ports but not in close proximaty but there are shipping routes near the site
- Positioned approximately 15 miles  from shore the coastal horizon is not impacted
- Natural habitats will not be affected

- Installation and constructions costs were a major reason for this selection
Some turbines have been shipped via the from Pensacola to Cincinatti. The proposed sites are near a shipping channel for that reason.  Additionally, notice the proposed sites are not in the highest wind areas since there was no financial gain for the higher speeds but there are higher construction costs.  Finally, the closer selection also means there will less energy loss via normal power transmissions.