Seven hundred offshore wind turbines are being proposed for Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair including 165 turbines north of Lakeshore and wind farms off Amherstburg, Colchester, Kingsville and Leamington.

SouthPoint Wind of Leamington had already proposed 15 turbines in three spots off the shores of Kingsville and Leamington. If SouthPoint gets approval for that project, it is proposing a 1,400 megawatt project with 13 wind farms: three in Lake St. Clair and the rest south of Essex County and Chatham-Kent in Lake Erie. Each wind farm could have 55 turbines and could be one to 2.5 kilometres from shore.

“Why should we be the guinea pigs?” Leamington Deputy Mayor Rob Schmidt said Wednesday.

If it could be the first offshore wind farm anywhere in fresh water, there should be more research done, Schmidt said.

There are offshore wind farms proposed on the Great Lakes including Lake Ontario but none approved or constructed in the province.
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