Published: June 16, 2009 11:49 pm      

NYPA: Wind farm project moving quickly

LEWISTON — Less than two months after he stood outside, in Buffalo’s windswept Inner Harbor, New York State Power Authority president and CEO Richard Kessel came to the Falls on Tuesday to say plans for the Great Lakes Offshore Wind project are moving forward fast.

“We have had 14 requests for expressions of interest (in developing offshore wind energy projects),” Kessel said. “That is an extraordinary number of companies, from all over the country.”

It was Earth Day when Kessel first announced that NYPA would launch a project that would look to harness the wind off of the Great Lakes to create electricity. This trip, to the Niagara Power Project Power Vista, saw Kessel get together with a host of representatives from local environmental groups to brief them on wind power plans and hear their questions and concerns.

“This is an exciting initiative,” Kessel told reporters after his meeting with the environmentalists. “This will be one of the first offshore energy projects in the U.S. and we want to make sure all the environmental questions are examined in advance. We are going to have a continuing dialogue with the community about this.”

The NYPA Board of Trustees will met June 30 at the Power Vista and is expected, at that time, to approve contracts for technical consultants for the wind farm project.

“The wind project is moving forward,” Kessel said, “It will happen because we all want to see it happen.”

When the project was announced, NYPA officials said they hoped an offshore wind farm could generate at least 120 megawatts of new power. That would be enough to meet the needs of 15,000 to 20,000 households.

“We recognize the wind resources of the Great Lakes is huge,” said Terry Yonker, chairman of the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative. “They may be the largest (wind resources) in North America.”

Kessel insisted that NYPA’s outreach to environmental and other groups was designed to also reassure them that the authority has no intention of adversely affecting recreational and business activity, particularly commercial fishing, on the lakes.

“We will not hurt the fishing industry,” Kessel said bluntly.

Commercial fishing is a $4.5 billion industry on the great lakes, with Lake Erie contributing $1.5 billion on its own.

“I believe we will be able to find locations that have sustainable wind, without impacting fishing,” Kessel said.

The Power Authority chair also repeated a commitment to press for local production of the parts needed to build and maintain the estimated 40 turbines that will be required for the project. That production, coupled with the creation of the wind farms, Kessel said, could mean thousands of new jobs in Western New York.