Far-Offshore Wind in the Great Lakes and specifically the TPW1 Offshore Wind Project offers an unparalleled opportunity to enhance Ontario's energy mix, aligning perfectly with the province's objectives of sustainability, reliability, and innovation as outlined in the Integrated Energy Plan (IEP). Offshore wind is a proven technology globally, providing clean, renewable, and affordable energy. Yet, Ontario’s moratorium on offshore wind prevents the province from tapping into this abundant resource, stalling its leadership in clean energy and economic development. It is time to lift this moratorium and include TPW1 as a keystone project.
Offshore wind benefits from stronger, more consistent winds over water, resulting in significantly higher capacity factors and an attractive diurnal profile. Our TPW1 project is strategically located far-offshore in eastern Lake Ontario with the nearest shoreline 18 kilometers away, and averaging 25 kms from shore, making it practically invisible and unheard. (Note: The photo included here is a view of Horns Rev Offshore Wind Farm from a shoreline 25 kms away). TPW1 has world-class wind speeds, low turbulence, benign bathymetry and proximity to existing transmission infrastructure minimizing costs and environmental disruption. The project's potential to produce more than 2 TWhs of clean energy annually would contribute significantly to Ontario's clean energy portfolio while increasing our power security and growing our local (especially marine and steel fabrication) economies.
Offshore Wind is affordable. The project economics for Offshore Wind in the Great Lakes are extremely competitive and transparent. Including offshore wind is not only viable but imperative for the province's economic and environmental resilience. More on this in a future blog.
Furthermore, offshore wind represents a tremendous economic development opportunity. Offshore wind projects create high-value jobs during construction, operations, and maintenance, stimulating local economies. Trillium Power's initiative includes plans for local workforce development and partnerships, ensuring economic benefits are retained within the province. The Conference Board of Canada estimated in their Impact Study that building 2,000 MWs of Offshore Wind would create 55,000 to 62,000 person-years of employment and increase Ontario's cumaltive real GDP by 5.6 billion CAD.
Ontario claims to pursue a technology-agnostic energy policy; however, maintaining the offshore wind moratorium contradicts this stance. The moratorium is outdated as extensive environmental studies have now been completed in Canada and the US with NREL (US National Renewable Energy Laboratory) recently concluding that "there are no insurmountable obstacles" to building offshore wind in the Great Lakes. Internationally, offshore wind has proven its viability, with projects in Europe, Asia and the U.S. demonstrating successful economics, integration and deployment.
Incorporating offshore wind into Ontario’s energy mix and specifically Trillium's TPW1 project as a catalyst, is a logical, forward-thinking step in Ontario's vision to become an energy superpower.
