Community Impact Assessment and Planning Tool for Offshore Wind Development in the Great Lakes Region

Background

• The Great Lakes region is a great source of offshore wind with the potential capacity of 743 Gigawatts.

• This enormous source is much larger than that in the New England or Middle Atlantic region.

• Despite this great potential, the offshore wind technology in the region is very underdeveloped.

• The public opposition is one of the key factors, which is contributing to this lack of development.

Approach

• We work to devise a plan for the community engagement to foster offshore wind technology in the Great Lakes.

• First, the potential sites are evaluated using key parameters, stakeholder interviews and expert opinions.

• The impacted sectors on each potential site are then analyzed (e.g., fishing, birds, tourism, etc.)

• The results are then used to evaluate the project as well as its socioeconomic impacts.

• Potential sites are evaluated to finalize the siting based on the specific wind offshore technology.

• This model forms a tool, which helps stakeholders avoid project delays while minimizing harm to the wildlife, environment, and natural areas.