Wind turbines proposed for lake

Watertown Daily Times | Wind turbines proposed for lake

CANADIAN WATERS: Shoals of Main Duck Island could house 142 turbines; site 22 miles from Cape Vincent
By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2009

The shoals off Main Duck Island, on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario, may host an offshore wind power project.

Trillium Wind Power Corp., Toronto, is proposing a 142-turbine project in the shoals southwest of the island to produce up to 710 megawatts of power.

"We purposefully went out on the water and chose this unique site because of its attributes," said John Kourtoff, CEO of Trillium Wind.

The project, Trillium Power Wind 1, would send its electricity over a 28-kilometer, or 16.8-mile, underwater and underground transmission line to Lennox Generating Station, Bath.

Main Duck Island was bought by the Canadian government in 1978, Mr. Kourtoff said. It had been in private hands, including those of former U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who bought it in 1941, according to Times archives. Mr. Dulles had a cabin there, about 22 miles from Cape Vincent.

The shoals are a popular fishing spot. Fishing and sailboats would still be allowed in the area. And fish populations could increase as a result of the project.

Research by Ontario's government has indicated turbine foundations would create a "reef effect," giving young fry shelter from storms that roll across the lake. That would regenerate their populations by up to eight times the natural rate. Commercial fishing once thrived on American eel and lake trout in the area, but commercial fishing is no longer legal there.

"The island is the northeastern point of essentially an underwater mesa," Mr. Kourtoff said.

He said there is not much sediment southwest of the island. The site considered for the wind project would begin about three-tenths of a mile south of the island. There, the water is about 6 feet deep, and at the farthest reaches of the site, the water is about 130 feet, deep.

Mr. Kourtoff said the developer did an unprecedented number of bird studies but found few birds.

"Birds don't nest 20 kilometers out on the lake," he said. "Most feed near the shorelines."

Trillium Wind leadership has worked on renewable energy development since the 1980s. The company conducted the original wind measurements on Wolfe Island.

"We've been at renewable power long before it became popular," Mr. Kourtoff said.

This project is still a few years away.

Mr. Kourtoff said it might switch to 6-megawatt turbines instead of the 5-megawatt turbines currently planned.

That would cut down on the number of turbines, decreasing the installation and maintenance costs.

No matter which is used, Mr. Kourtoff said, the turbines will be about 330 feet high.

He said the winds needed to power turbines are at lower elevations over water than over land and vegetation.

To install the turbines, Trillium Power would use "eco-designed" barges. Mr. Kourtoff said the two barges, one for installing the turbines and one for creating the foundations, will not bilge and will have greaseless legs to jack themselves out of the water. The barges each carry up to 30 people and are the size of a football field.

"It's kind of bizarre to use old technology while you're putting up a green project," he said.