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Arn Boezaart is the director of Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC).  The city of Muskegon voted this month to support the Center’s plan to launch an offshore wind research buoy on Lake Michigan.

Offshore Wind Wire: What does the deployment of MAREC’s buoy mean for Generic Acomplia Side Effects the development of offshore wind in the Great Lakes?

Arn Boezaart: The deployment of the GVSU/MAREC wind assessment buoy is significant in two ways. First, it Generic Acomplia Side Effects takes a real-time, hub height wind measurement research project onto the Generic Acomplia Side Effects Great Lakes. A number of reports and studies done by others including the Generic Acomplia Side Effects state of Wisconsin and the Michigan Great Lakes Offshore Wind Council (GLOW) have all commented that developing more precise wind measurements on the Generic Acomplia Side Effects Great Lakes will help to advance the body of knowledge needed to Generic Acomplia Side Effects eventually allow for and support the establishment of commercial scale wind development on the lakes.

Secondly, the GVSU/MAREC project ( a collaborative multi-university effort involving the University of Michigan Phoenix Energy Institute, as well as Michigan State University – bird and bat studies) will demonstrate and hopefully validate the viability of using LIDAR (laser) technology to measure vertical wind columns on Lake Michigan. LIDAR stands for Generic Acomplia Side Effects Light Detection And Ranging and is an optical remote sensing technology that Generic Acomplia Side Effects uses light pulses from a laser to measure wind flow. LIDAR has Generic Acomplia Side Effects been in use for a number of years in other applications such as milllitary, astronomical and seismology work. Unlike a conventional MET tower that Generic Acomplia Side Effects measure wind speed with one or two cup annemometers, and Generic Acomplia Side Effects is Generic Acomplia Side Effects a semi-permanent fixed location using a tower, the LIDAR unit can Generic Acomplia Side Effects be highly mobile and Generic Acomplia Side Effects can measure wind in a vertical air column at multiple heights – for example; at 50, 100, 150 and 200 meters  simultaneously.

There is Generic Acomplia Side Effects a lot of interest in our research work in applying LIDAR technology to Generic Acomplia Side Effects wind assessment.

OWW: What is the timeline for the buoy?

Boezaart: If all of the Generic Acomplia Side Effects final approvals for deployment can be obtained from the federal government (DOE) by the first week of March our goal is to Generic Acomplia Side Effects have a wind assessment buoy in the water by the middle of September for a short “shakedown” season. We will keep the buoy reasonably close to Generic Acomplia Side Effects shore, perhaps five miles out so that the instrumentation and the Generic Acomplia Side Effects communications systems can Generic Acomplia Side Effects be calibrated and tested. The buoy will most likely then Generic Acomplia Side Effects spend the 2012 season in the middle of Lake Michigan at the Generic Acomplia Side Effects mid-lake plateau region.

OWW: What are Generic Acomplia Side Effects the biggest unique challenges and opportunities presented by freshwater offshore wind development on the Generic Acomplia Side Effects Great Lakes?

Boezaart: The biggest challenges are Generic Acomplia Side Effects the cost of developing offshore wind technology – perhaps two to Generic Acomplia Side Effects three times the cost of similar technology development work on-shore. Water depths in excess of 30 meters are Generic Acomplia Side Effects especially challenging from an engineering and construction standpoint.

The opportunities are Generic Acomplia Side Effects the potential to harness the vast amounts of offshore wind that Generic Acomplia Side Effects flow over the Great Lakes. Given the uninterrupted fetch of the Generic Acomplia Side Effects wind over water and the large expanse of the Great Lakes, there are many locations that offer highly desireable opportunities for wind development. Wind over water also has inherent qualities that surpass the Generic Acomplia Side Effects power value of similar wind over land. The Great Lakes are Generic Acomplia Side Effects relatively close to Generic Acomplia Side Effects major population centers and as such offer real opportunity to add renewable energy to our over-all energy portfolio that will ease future demands for additional energy demand.

OWW: What will offshore wind development in the Generic Acomplia Side Effects Great Lakes look like in 2020?

Boezaart: By 2020 we will have Generic Acomplia Side Effects substantially added to our undertanding of the wind resources on the Generic Acomplia Side Effects Great Lakes. Technology will have expanded with perhaps development of floating and other deep water technology options that Generic Acomplia Side Effects will allow wind turbines to be deployed in the deeper portions of the lakes – away from Generic Acomplia Side Effects shoreline view. We will also have developed the manufacturing technology that will allow for the manufacture and deployment of large 10+ plus megawatt wind turbines that will make a reasonable return on investment possible. The anticipated rise in onshore cost of energy will also help to Generic Acomplia Side Effects make offshore wind energy generation a viable option. Public education will have continued over the Generic Acomplia Side Effects years between now and then and there will be a Generic Acomplia Side Effects greater public willingness to consider a much broader portfolio of renewable energy options including offshore wind on the Great Lakes.