Cape & Islands News

Western Hemisphere's Largest Wind Farm proposed for Lake Ontario

John Kourtoff, the president of privately held Trillium Power Energy Corp. of Toronto, said today that his company will seek permits from the Ontario provincial and Canadian federal governments to build what would be the biggest offshore wind farm outside of northern Europe.
And his reception by Canadian provincial and national officials has been emphatic and positive. Mr. Kourtoff's company has been developing the windfarm quietly over the past 10 years. He says that in the day since the formal announcement he has received over 150 emails from around the world (even Iraq and Iran) congratulating him and asking for information.

Enthusiastic press, helpful tourist boards 

The local press and public has been equally supportive with none of the NIMBYism and flack hurled at Cape Wind here on Cape Cod.† Even the tourist officials have lauded the project pointing to the benefits of British and European wind farms as a popular attraction.

The proposed $1+ billion project called Trillium Power Wind 1 will have a potential capacity of more than 700 Mega Watts and the project has already drawn promises of financial backing from institutional investors the Trillium president said.
Trillium wants to erect more than 140 massive wind turbines in the middle of Lake Ontario in what would become the largest wind farm in the Western Hemisphere

Trillium says the project will provide enough clean electricity to power more than 200,000 homes and would be in waters between 1 and 80 feet about 10 miles offshore from Prince Edward County, just south of Belleville, Ontario, Canada

 The local press and public has been equally supportive with none of the NIMBYism and flack hurled at Cape Wind here on Cape Cod.† Even the tourist officials have lauded the project pointing to the benefits of British and European wind farms as a popular attraction.

The proposed $1+ billion project called Trillium Power Wind 1 will have a potential capacity of more than 700 Mega Watts and the project has already drawn promises of financial backing from institutional investors the Trillium president said.
Trillium wants to erect more than 140 massive wind turbines in the middle of Lake Ontario in what would become the largest wind farm in the Western Hemisphere

Trillium says the project will provide enough clean electricity to power more than 200,000 homes and would be in waters between 1 and 80 feet about 10 miles offshore from Prince Edward County, just south of Belleville, Ontario, Canada.

"If you look out on the horizon, you'll barely see anything on the clearest day," said Kourtoff, adding the project would cost more than $1 billion. "We already have the financial backers."

By going offshore, the company plans to take advantage of better wind conditions, based on 36 years of wind data.

Kourtoff said the turbine bases would help support aquatic life, since fish and other water species tend to cluster and find sanctuary around underwater objects. The shallow waters also mean there is no danger of large ships hitting the structures. Studies done so far indicate that the turbines would not conflict with the flight paths of birds. "There are no flyways, no aviary issues," Kourtoff said.

The project would dwarf the largest onshore projects already underway in Ontario. Kourtoff said the turbine bases would help support aquatic life, since fish and other water species tend to cluster and find sanctuary around underwater objects. The shallow waters also mean there is no danger of large ships hitting the structures. Studies done so far indicate that the turbines would not conflict with the flight paths of birds.

"There are no flyways, no aviary issues," Kourtoff said. The project would dwarf the largest onshore projects already underway in Ontario. Robert Hornung, president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association, said Canada is just scratching the surface of its wind-energy potential, even though wind is expected to account for nearly 20% of new electricity generation in the next decade.

Trillium President Kourtoff said that the shallow water site in Lake Ontario where his company wants to build its project offers many advantages that are not shared by two other ambitious offshore wind projects elsewhere, both of which are stalled. One is in Massachusetts, off Cape Cod, the other in northern British Columbia between the Queen Charlotte Islands and the British Columbia mainland.