OPSB APPROVES CONSTRUCTION OF UTILITY SCALE WIND FARM

On March 22, 2010, the Ohio Power Siting Board  (OPSB) approved an application for a Certificate of Authority  to JW Great Lakes Wind LLC to construct  a utility scale  wind farm in an area near Dunkirk.  The Certificate of Authority is for one of the first utility scale wind projects in the State of Ohio.  The project proposed by JW Great Lakes Wind LLC, of Cleveland, is in Hardin County, east of Lima, and would include up to 27 wind turbines with a total capacity of 48 megawatts.

 

JW Great Lakes Wind LLC is also the first wind power developer in Ohio to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources with respect to collaboration on ecological and habitat studies necessary to approve projects in Ohio.  This agreement is designed, among other things, to accelerate the process of OPSB approval for Certificates of Authority such as the one approved in this case.

 

JW Great Lakes Wind anticipates construction beginning late this year, with operations expected to start mid-2011. 50 to 100 temporary construction jobs are expected to be created.

 

JW Great Lakes Wind is a subsidiary of German wind developer Juwi GmbH. The Cuyahoga County Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force in  2008 hired Juwi to study the feasibility of building a wind farm in Lake Erie.  In 2009,  Juwi reported such a project is technically and environmentally feasible.

 

McMahon DeGulis LLP attorney Dave Nash provided legal support in the preparation of the application and in the negotiations between JW Great Lakes Wind LLC and the OPSB for the Certificate and for the cooperative agreement with ODNR.  Dave is also regulatory counsel to the Cuyahoga County offshore wind power project.

 

For more information on advanced energy projects, please contact Dave Nash at (216) 367-1401.