R&D Fast Facts - Offshore Wind Energy
Researchers
AEWC Advanced Structures and Composites Center Director Habib Dagher, (207) 581-2138
What is offshore wind power?
With nothing to block its path, offshore winds are much stronger than those on land, and using large windmills suited for the ocean environment there is a huge potential to harness this alternative energy of Maine’s coast.
What is UMaine’s role?
As part of UMaine’s plan to be a leader in the alternative energy field, AEWC Director Habib Dagher is collaborating with companies on the design, manufacture and testing of floating wind turbine technology in deep waters 60–900 meters offshore. Such turbines would feature 300-foot towers with 200-foot blades.
Researchers not only are studying how to best create offshore wind energy, but also the potential environmental impacts associated with the project.
What is the potential?
The current sustainable energy plan for Maine is to generate 5 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 by installing 1,000 5-megawatt wind turbines 20 miles from shore.
Within 50 nautical miles of Maine’s coast, there is the potential to produce 149,000 megawatts of power using offshore wind. Accounting for wind intermittency, that’s the equivalent of 40 nuclear power plants, Dagher says.
Why Maine?
The Gulf of Maine has been characterized as the Saudi Arabia of wind, and by placing commercial offshore wind farms 20 miles from shore, Dagher says the visual impact will be eliminated and the better winds far offshore will be captured.
What’s next?
AEWC is planning to open an advanced wind blade prototyping facility, where full-scale trial blades can be designed, fabricated and tested under one roof. Funding for the project came from the Maine Technology Institute-Maine Technology Asset Fund, which last fall awarded nearly $5 million to two AEWC initiatives focused on renewable energy. The allocations were made possible by a $50 million R&D bond approved in 2007 by Maine voters.
Researchers also are continuing to look at environmental concerns, such as possible impact on whale, fish and bird habitats, but believe these concerns can be overcome in an environmentally responsible manner.
Dagher, along with Gov. John Baldacci and Maine’s Congressional delegation, has met with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to discuss a proposal to establish a national deep-water offshore wind research center at UMaine.
Project partners: UMaine is working with more than 30 firms nationwide on this project.
