Andrew Fu with Professor David Matthiesen (Department of Materials Science and Engineering)

 Offshore Wind Energy Feasibility Center

The Board of County Commissioners of Cuyahoga County in partnership with Case Western Reserve University has selected a project manager for a 1-year feasibility study to determine the practicability of constructing a research center to harness wind power. This center will be drawing information from ten monopoles set out 3 miles off the coast of Lake Erie, just offshore of downtown Cleveland by the water intake crib. It is anticipated that we will be dealing with three main revenue streams: 1) Sale of electrical energy, 2) Sale of green credits and, 3) income from product testing. In addition, costs includes: operation and maintenance, power conversion and compatibility, production, research and development, and various other expenses to be determined. Our goal is to develop a pricing model that will successfully predict those future streams of revenues and expenses for the operation of this research center. If our financial models can show positive future, this will become the first offshore freshwater wind research center ever constructed.