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Deep Water Sites Picked for Pioneering Wind Test

December 21, 2009 - AUGUSTA -- The Maine coast emerged Tuesday as a national laboratory for floating wind turbines that could someday draw large amounts of power from the Gulf of Maine.

Gov. John Baldacci announced the selection of three test sites for wind energy, all within three miles of coastal islands.

The first experimental offshore windmill is expected to be installed late next year in waters south of Monhegan Island, off Port Clyde. Developers have yet to come forward with plans for the other two sites, one near Boon Island in York County and the other near Damariscove Island, south of Boothbay Harbor.

Baldacci called the effort the first of its kind in the country and said it holds huge potential for creating clean energy and Maine jobs. "This is where the future lies," he said.

The Governors' Ocean Energy Task Force recommended the test sites after gathering information for months on wind conditions and potential effects on coastal communities, shipping, fishing, and bird and bat migrations.

A fourth site, off the town of Cutler in Washington County, had been on the list of finalists but was dropped because of opposition by lobstermen and concerns about creating a hazard for migratory birds, a state official said.

The three chosen sites created fewer conflicts, but the development of test turbines there will have effects, officials said.

Lobstermen, for example, will not be able to set traps directly under and around the turbines. And because the only large, offshore wind turbine in the world is off the coast of Norway, it's not known how the structures along the Maine coast will affect birds, marine mammals or fish.

"All of these sites have the basic conditions we were looking for, and we think the specific locations minimized conflicts with other uses and concerns about natural resources like bird migrations and marine mammals," said Robert Marvinney, head of the task force and a geologist with the state Department of Conservation.

Tuesday's announcement of the three sites officially allowed researchers and developers to apply for five-year state leases and environmental permits to build and install the floating turbines.

The first application will come from the University of Maine, which is leading a coalition of researchers and businesses that plans to install its first test turbine near Monhegan Island late next year. The group recently won an $8 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to test and develop the deep-water offshore technology.

"This will be the first deep-water test site in the United States," said Habib Dagher, a UMaine professor who is leading the effort. "It's exciting that it's happening in Maine. We have a national responsibility here to lead the country in that direction."

Although there is much commercial interest in the university's research project, officials said some potential developers may wait to see how the project performs before submitting applications to test the technology at the other sites.

The university's group plans to start relatively small and grow over time. Its first turbine will have a 100-foot-tall tower and the capacity to generate 10 kilowatts of electricity.

A full-scale offshore turbine can have a 300-foot-tall tower and 180-foot-long wind blades, and cost $20 million to $30 million to build and install, Dagher said.

"We can learn a lot more at a lot less cost," he said. "We need to learn to walk before we run."

The test turbine will help researchers learn how to stabilize floating platforms and how to build turbines efficiently with lightweight composite materials that will withstand the coastal environment. Initially, at least, the test turbine won't even send electricity back to shore.

"The goal of our effort is to reduce the dollars (spent) per kilowatt hours generated," Dagher said.

The effort is being watched closely in coastal communities and by wildlife advocates, but there has been no formal opposition to the chosen sites.

"We definitely are in favor of the economic development (and) we understand there is a need to do these things in state waters," said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen's Association.

But, McCarron said, the lobster industry is concerned about what will happen after the five-year test leases. As long as the permanent wind turbines are far offshore, in federal waters, they won't be considered a threat to lobstering communities, she said.

"We do not in any way support the development of commercial wind power in state waters," she said.

The five-year state leases can be extended, and officials are not ruling out commercial development in state waters. But experts say the most valuable wind is at least 10 miles offshore, out of sight from land and removed from prime lobstering grounds.

Wildlife advocates also are watching.

"The coast of Maine is really a special place, this funnel where birds of every major family are moving through," said Wing Goodale, a biologist and deputy director of the BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham.

Everything from songbirds to falcons migrates along the coast and across the Gulf of Maine, he said, so tests of the wind technology could help researchers learn how to avoid killing birds or blocking their flyways.

"I would really like to see Maine also become a leader in the environmental research so that wind turbines can be properly sited," Goodale said.

Marvinney, the task force chair, said that if a turbine has "unacceptable consequences" on birds or marine species, the state Department of Environmental Protection can order that the equipment be modified or removed.



The three offshore sites chosen for wind energy testing are all in state waters, within three miles of Maine islands. But the technology that will be tested there is intended for deep water 10 to 20 miles offshore.

Unlike near-shore wind farms, which can be built into the ocean floor, offshore turbines are designed with floating and semi-submersible platforms that are tethered to the seabed with cables.

Each of Maine’s chosen sites has water at least 200 feet deep, and researchers plan to experiment with various designs for stabilizing the platforms in wind and waves.

The University of Maine plans to start late next year with a 100-foot-tall turbine tower, then work up to larger versions. Ultimately, large commercial wind farms could have turbines with 300-foot-tall towers and 180-foot-long blades.

Experts say the Gulf of Maine could be home to large wind farms that can’t be seen from land but send huge amounts of power to shore through underwater cables.

Wind farms produce energy only when the wind is blowing, and the winds in the Gulf of Maine are stronger and more consistent than the winds that blow over land, experts say.

A University of Maine professor, Habib Dagher, has said that winds off Maine have the potential to produce as much electricity as 149 nuclear plants. Dagher and state officials envision $20 billion worth of wind farms far offshore, creating as many as 15,000 jobs and generating 5 gigawatts of power.

– John Richardson, Portland Press Herald, December 19, 2009
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago, Sanford, Mid Coast, Downeast


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