Bring wind power to Muskegon
Lake Michigan, on the Michigan side, has outstanding wind speeds for wind turbines, which has caught the eye of numerous wind farm developers.
One in particular is called Scandia, a Minnesota based company which plans to create a wind farm 40 miles north of Muskegon near the city of Pentwater and Ludington.
Why Put a Wind Farm in Muskegon?
- It's got Outstanding wind speeds
- It has much shallower water depths further out than most of West Michigan for more practical building and less resistance from the public over visibility
- It's just 40 miles South of the Ludington pumped hydro station
- The Muskegon coal power plant is likely to be de-comissioned soon leaving behind the infrastructure for new energy production.
For a map of Lake Michigan wind speeds, visit this page
Water depth off the coast of Muskegon is relatively shallow, allowing for the placement of wind turbines 6 to 9 miles out. 6 miles, by the way is the current recommended distance from the Great Lakes Wind Council. It's estimated that 12 miles out would make the turbines far enough out that the turbines disappear off the horizon.
Pentwater and the Resistance to Wind Power
Scandia has planned its 1000 MW, or 1 Gigawatt, wind farm in a space just off the coast from Pentwater. It it planned as a 10 square mile wind farm just 2 miles off the coast. Pentwater is the ideal location for the wind farm because it has Outstanding wind very close to shore, and it's very close to the Ludington pumped hydro station which stores excess energy production at night in the form of water in a reservoir, and then releases the water during peak hours to meet demand.
Many folks in Pentwater are attempting to scuttle the wind farm because it obstructs their view.
They argue that the economy in the city of Pentwater is "100% tourist based" and the wind farm won't create more jobs than are lost through the tourist industry because supposedly visitors won't want to see wind farms off in the distance.
Note that the region has 19% unemployment. It is a severely depressed region of the country and the state. One has to wonder what the unemployed of the region think about this project. Do they feel the tourist industry has provided for them and their families? Do they feel a new direction may provide better job security than the status quo?
If not...if everybody in the Pentwater area is of the same mind and want to scuttle this project, Muskegon would be happy to be an alternate location.
Muskegon has excellent wind speeds, shallow water depths, and we're still just a stone's throw from the pumped hydro station. The BC Cobb coal power plant already services the hydro station, providing the electricity to pump the water into the reservoir at night. The infrastructure is already there. The BC Cobb power plant in Muskegon is also likely to be de-comissioned pretty soon
About The Ludington Pumped Hydro Station
The Ludington pumped hydro station acts almost like a massive battery, storing up power from surrounding plants during low use periods, and then releasing that energy during high use periods. It's capable of generating 1800 MW of power when it's full of water. Another benefit of having a wind farm near the pumped hydro station is, it can tie into the high capacity power lines already in place.
The wind farm is planned for placement near Little Sable Point, which is 20 miles from the Ludington pumped hydro station. Muskegon, by comparison, is about 40 miles from the pumped hydro station.