The US offers the state a lease for offshore wind research in the Gulf of Maine

Federal officials on Tuesday offered Maine a lease to research offshore wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine, moving the state closer to establishing a presence in the burgeoning zero-carbon energy industry.

The site is 28 nautical miles off the coast, southeast of Portland. If developed, it would include up to 12 floating offshore wind turbines producing up to 144 megawatts of renewable energy, or enough to power up to 144,000 average homes, according to regional grid operator ISO-New England.

The Office of Ocean Energy Management has determined that the lease, site assessment and related activities will not have significant environmental impacts. Thanks to this, the agency is not obliged to prepare an environmental impact statement.

Maine has requested a research lease in 2021 to study floating offshore wind technology and turbine placement.

The site covers 15.2 square miles – a fraction of the 2 million-acre site the bureau selected in March for a commercial floating offshore wind project. The site is located 23 to 92 miles off the coast of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The new research center will use floating concrete platforms designed by the University of Maine.

“Offshore wind offers our state a tremendous opportunity to harness abundant clean energy in our own backyard, create good-paying jobs and drive economic development, while also reducing our overdependence on fossil fuels and combating climate change,” Gov. Janet Mills said .

The state has 30 days to accept or reject the lease, review the technical and legal requirements, or request changes. Mills said her administration will review the lease in the “coming weeks.”

Jack Shapiro, director of climate and clean energy at the Maine Natural Resources Council, said the research kit is “another step toward putting Maine on the map” for a floating offshore wind industry that will create jobs, protect natural resources and provide Maine and the region with clean energy.

The federal approval is significant because if the project ultimately goes ahead, it will likely result in the first floating array of offshore wind turbines in the U.S., he said. This will position Maine as a leader in the development of the offshore wind industry and provide the state, project developers, researchers and others with valuable information about offshore wind development, Shapiro said.

In a 2021 study that reviewed Sears Island for offshore wind, the Maine Department of Transportation said the Gulf of Maine research area “will be one of the first steps” toward achieving the state’s renewable energy goals of 80 % by 2030 and 100% by 2050.

A DOT study shows that floating wind turbine bases will take advantage of technology improvements and help lower production costs in the coming decade. The floating offshore wind market is in its early stages of development, according to a state transportation study. A phased construction approach was recommended, allowing the terminal to commence operations with minimal requirements for a demonstration project and expand over time to support a full-scale commercial wind farm.

Diamond Offshore Wind, a Boston-based energy company collaborating on the research, said the federal approval is an important step toward commercial-scale development in the Gulf of Maine and would be the first project to use the Searsport offshore wind port. The Mills administration announced in February that Sears Island was the state’s preferred site and is seeking $456 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the project.

Diamond CEO Chris Wissemann said the next step for the Public Utilities Commission will be to finalize power purchase agreements with Central Maine Power and Versant Power, and then efforts will focus on port development.

When the bureau announced the larger 2 million-acre area in March, it was generally met with praise, with some calling for greater protection of habitat and fishing areas. The agency found that after consultations with tribes, local residents, the fishing community and others, the area is 80% smaller than the original planned wind energy area.

President Biden has set a goal of building 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030. But rising interest rates, supply shortages and other problems have forced developers to withdraw from several offshore wind projects in New Jersey and New York. Offshore wind advocates say the setbacks are temporary and that long-term climate goals will require wind energy to become a key part of zero-carbon energy projects.

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