Lake Erie to get offshore wind farm in 2012

General Electric and an Ohio-based wind developer hopes to construct an offshore wind farm in Lake Erie before 2012 is over, where this 20-megawatt wind farm will rely on GE’s direct-drive turbines that were specially designed for offshore wind. GE’s 4-megawatt turbines comprise of a gearless, direct drive technology designed for reliability that were specially cobbled together to work in offshore applications. They hope to be able to develop around 1,000 megawatts of wind power in Ohio waters by 2020, and if this project is successful, it will hold the distinction of being the first offshore wind project in fresh waters in the U.S. Green technology might not be as efficient in terms of power generated compared to nuclear or coal, but at least it leaves positive footprints on the planet.