Offshore wind energy in the Great Lakes

Specifically, the project will address:

• Potential energy production from offshore wind turbines in the Great Lakes.
• The effect of underwater foundations on the integrity and performance of wind turbines.
• The influence of turbine foundations on aquatic ecological communities.
• Policy and governance that provide the context and constraints for leveraging wind energy potential in the Great Lakes.

The project’s principal investigator is M.V. Sivaselvan, assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering. Co-principal investigators are Kathryn Bryk Friedman, director of international research at UB’s Regional Institute and a research associate professor of law and policy in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning; Sarah Delavan, assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering; Helen Domske, associate director of the Great Lakes Program at UB; and John Hall and Sonjoy Das, assistant professors in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.