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| Online Map of Wind-Energy
Demo Sites Now Available | | 11/25/2009 10:48:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | An online, interactive map that allows users to see the various layers of information that have directly affected the search for suitable areas to test new wind-energy technologies is now available at www.maine.gov/doc/initiatives/oceanenergy/oceanenergy.shtml.
After collecting information this summer and autumn, the Department of Conservation and State Planning Office nominated four small areas in state waters along the Maine coast that could serve as potential places for testing new offshore wind-energy technologies.
"It's pretty illuminating," says state geologist Robert Marvinney. "You can see the seven planning areas we started with, the four much smaller areas we ended up with, and many of the factors that drove the process." Some of the factors Marvinney cites include coastal obstructions, shipwrecks, seabird nesting and ferry routes.
Legislation passed in June mandates that the Department of Conservation and the State Planning Office identify between one and five demonstration sites to serve as locations for the testing of all the components necessary to develop deepwater, offshore wind power, including floating platforms, anchoring systems, and new lightweight blade composites. The sites were to be officially designated by December 15.
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