Canadian Hydro Developers said it intends to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the Great Lakes with the project beginning operation in 2014.
The company on Monday said it secured rights to an offshore site for the farm with 4,400 MW of wind capacity. The site is located between 3 to 19 miles off the coast of Ontario. No financial terms were released.
Great Lakes site has 4,400 MW of wind capacity
The deal, struck with Park City, Utah, based wind farm developer Wasatch Wind, gives Canadian Hydro the opportunity to increase its energy generation by six fold. The firm currently operates plants with a capacity of 694 MW.
When completed, the Great Lakes project is expected to supply enough energy to power 2 million homes. The company said its plant will require industry subsidies, specially an Ontario feed-in tariff with a 20-year contract price of $190 per MWh.
The first 400 to 500 MW of generation is anticipated to come online at the end of 2014.
Canada hasn’t been a leader in green energy. This would be huge really.