Viability of Offshore Wind Energy Across Wisconsin's Great Lakes
File(s)
Date
2016Author
LaDue, Calvin
Schumacher, Molly
Wilson Orno, Isabel
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This research project was designed to determine suitable sites for an offshore wind farm within
Wisconsin’s jurisdiction of Lake Michigan and Superior. In the research process, we used GIS
data to create a map of ideal wind speeds for electricity generation in both lakes, and this was
overlaid with a map of excluded sites based on different criteria: human activities, historical
sites, view protection, and environmentally sensitive areas. The results showed that there are vast
stretches in Lake Michigan where an offshore wind farm would be suitable. We chose three sites
determined as most suitable and examined individual factors of each site which included an
economic estimate of capital costs. The cost and implementation of each offshore wind farm
project is heavily dependent upon geographic location, and individual factors vary from project
to project, and therefore exact costs are impossible to determine prior to planning the actual
project.
Subject
Offshore wind farm
Wisconsin
Lake Michigan
Lake Superior
Great Lakes
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/78996Description
Includes Tables, Figures, Maps and Bibliography.