MAINE WANTS WIND OFFSHORE

State to woo U.S. official on offshore wind power
Dieter Bradbury, June 5, 2009 (Political Correspondent via Energy Current)

"U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will meet with Gov. John Baldacci and University of Maine researchers… as the state pushes ahead with its drive to become a national center for research and development in offshore wind energy.

"…[Senator Olympia Snowe, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, Governor Baldacci] and wind power proponents hope to convince the Department of Energy to fund ongoing work by the university and private investors to establish a test site in the Gulf of Maine…Researchers believe that wind in the gulf could be a significant energy source in the future, providing many "green" jobs and an alternative to increasingly costly fossil fuels."

Maine has developed ability with wind. (click to enlarge)

"Baldacci has included $7.5 million for ocean wind-power research and development in [a] proposed bond package…Lawmakers passed a measure…that streamlined state permitting and called for the designation of five test sites off the coast…[O]fficials will look at potential funding under the economic stimulus…[ In a letter to Chu in April, Senator Collins proposed a partnership with the state that could attract $20 billion in private investment and create 15,000 energy jobs.]

"Maine has enough wind energy offshore to equal the output of 40 nuclear power plants…[T]he state is ideally suited to serve as a deep-water test site for wind power because the ocean floor drops off quickly, relatively close to the coastline…[and] scientists have compiled an extensive database of wind speeds, ocean geology and other conditions in the Gulf of Maine.

"…[Maine] has a track record of successful onshore wind projects…is developing a work force with wind power expertise as a result of those projects…[and] the university's composites center is expanding its research laboratory to focus on developing materials for wind turbine blades that would hold up offshore."

Look at those offshore assets! (click to enlarge)

"Wind power could be especially critical for Maine as a source of electricity to heat homes, about 80 percent of which are now dependent on oil…[T]he Department of Energy has set a goal of producing 20 percent of U.S. electricity needs from wind by 2030…[The nation…has offshore wind power potential of 2,500 gigawatts, or about 2 times the current U.S. electricity output.]

"There is no timeline for a federal response to Maine's request for support, but the state has put offshore wind power development on a fast track…The ocean energy bill streamlining the state environmental permitting process and designating five offshore test sites was enacted as emergency legislation."