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Maine Shows Off its Wind Potential

November 23, 2009 - BATH -- The visitors closely inspected the edge of plate steel cut by Bath Iron Works employees, moving on a tour through the sounds of grinding metal in one of the shipyard's assembly buildings.

They asked about work force levels and how the various shifts operate. They wanted to know more about how the Navy accepts a ship as ready to be delivered. They gazed up at the massive ultra-hull pieces of ship, and the new building to house them as they're built.

They weren't planning to buy a destroyer – the yard's mainstay product.

Rather, these Norwegians were looking at BIW and other Maine businesses and facilities with one thing in mind: wind power.

In a jam-packed visit that began Monday, they visited a new wind project on Vinalhaven, the soon-to-be-vacant Brunswick Naval Air Station, Cianbro Corp.'s fabrication plant in Brewer, the University of Maine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center, BIW and other locations.

In September, Gov. John Baldacci and UMaine professor Habib Dagher went to Norway as part of a wind power-focused trade mission. They signed an agreement with StatoilHydro, pledging to work together to determine whether a version of an offshore, deep-water turbine that the Norwegian energy giant deployed in the North Sea might be feasible for the Gulf of Maine.

The turbine, called the Hywind, is the world's first deep-water model. It's not sunk into the seabed, as other offshore turbines have been, but floats and is tethered to the ocean floor with cables. That's important for any offshore wind development off Maine, which, like Norway, has coastal waters that get very deep, very fast.

In the second meeting between Maine and Norway, Sjur Bratland, the asset manager for Hywind, and Knut Steen, the chief engineer on the project, came here to see if the state has the industrial infrastructure, know-how, government support and potential financing to make the project work here.

"I want to get the feeling of competence, of commitment, of capacity," Bratland said.

StatoilHydro spent about $75 million to design, build and deploy the Hywind turbine. It's operating well in about 650 feet of water, about seven miles off the coast of Norway. Bratland said the company wants to take the next step in exploring the concept of deep-water turbines: build bigger turbines, and more of them in one spot.

Maine may or may not be StatoilHydro's partner in that project. This week's visit is an exploration to see if the company should begin a feasibility study, Bratland said.

"There's still a long way to go," he said.

StatoilHydro is looking at locations around the world. Bratland recently visited Portugal. He's going to Shanghai next week. The company may decide on one or two locations, at most, he said.

"We're really competing for their attention," said Dagher, the UMaine professor.

Bratland, Steen and a group of Mainers toured the massive, empty Hangar 5 at BNAS, a possible place to build wind tower components. On the ride to Bath, BIW's Lisa Read pointed out the rail lines that could be used to ship parts between BNAS and BIW.

At BIW, Tom Bowler, vice president of operations, gave a short presentation on the company. The message was clear: a company that can take 6,200 tons of steel, 48 miles of pipe, 254 miles of electrical cable and many other materials and make a $1.5 billion, state-of-the-art warship could easily turn those skills to making parts of an offshore, deep-water turbine structure.

"We've got a world-class facility, we're sized right, have a great, great work force," said Bowler. "We believe we can be a strong teammate for the effort of moving Maine into offshore wind."

For companies like BIW and Cianbro, offshore wind power presents a chance to diversify. Baldacci and other Maine leaders see a chance to put the state in the forefront of an increasingly important component of renewable energy.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has proposed a bill to create an offshore wind program in the Department of Energy, funded at $50 million a year for 10 years.

Earlier this year, she secured a $5 million earmark for UMaine to establish an offshore wind center, and Maine's congressional delegation helped get an $8 million Department of Energy grant for the university to develop offshore wind technology.

Dagher said he believes the StatoilHydro officials have learned that Maine has the industrial base, the expertise and the commitment to wind power to make a partnership viable.

"I think they're going to come out with a very positive outlook of working in Maine," he said.

It was Bratland's first visit to Maine. He noted that Maine isn't alone in efforts to become more sustainable, and said he saw small things the state could do to move in that direction.

More community wind projects like the new one on Vinalhaven would be such a step, Bratland said. People could invest in smaller cars, or even use bikes to get along, he suggested.

"Small steps are what you need," he said.

By MATT WICKENHEISER, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, November 18, 2009


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