With its rough, rocky coast, the US state of Maine may seem one of the least likely places to launch an offshore wind industry. Nevertheless, the Granite State has been prepping for such an event throughout the early 2000s, and all their dreams just might come true.. In a statement issued just yesterday, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced that it has awarded a Final Environmental Assessment for a research-scale offshore wind site southeast of Portland, Maine.
The characterization of the lease area as a research site also means that BOEM can move the approval process forward without having to issue an Environmental Impact Statement, which is required under the National Environmental Policy Act for commercial offshore wind leases.In case you’re wondering how Maine is going to deal with its less-than-optimal coastline, that’s a good question.
In answer to the platform challenge, VolturnUS deploys concrete to help reduce costs. “The University of Maine’s patented VolturnUS is a transformational floating concrete hull technology to harness offshore wind energy with the potential toConcrete is not the first material that comes to mind for flotation.
Nevertheless, Governor Mills and other policymakers are not about to pull another Paul LePage on the state’s offshore wind stakeholders. Quite the opposite, in fact. Aside from accessing zero-emission electricity in the age of climate change, state policymakers have been eyeballing offshore wind as a major new job-creating industry for Maine, including academic and research positions.
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