 |
Download the
current issue
as a pdf
|
|
|
| Monhegan Site Chosen as UMaine's Offshore Wind Research Facility | | 12/17/2009 9:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
|
| The University of Maines wind-energy demonstration site will be located just south of Monhegan. |
 |
 |
| Governor Baldacci and State Planning Office Director Martha Freeman at Tuesdays announcement of the three sites. |
|
by Alice McFadden
Publisher, The Free Press
On Tuesday morning three sites in state waters made the final cut to serve as offshore areas for constructing and operating wind-energy demonstration projects. The projects are expected to mainly involve testing of new deepwater floating wind-turbine technologies - such as blade design, materials used in platform or support structures, or mooring or anchoring systems.
Two of the sites - off Boon Island near York and off Damariscove Island near Boothbay - are intended to be used by commercial developers for demonstration test projects.
The Monhegan site has been designated as the Maine Offshore Wind Energy Research Center, which will conduct projects by or in cooperation with deepwater wind-energy technology researchers at the University of Maine.
According to Kathleen Leyden, director of the Maine State Planning Office's Maine Coastal Program, the Damariscove and Boon sites are "more speculative, with no people we know who will apply right away, unlike the university site, which will go forward because they have the funding."
This summer the U.S. Department of Energy awarded an $8 million grant to a group led by Dr. Habib Dagher and his team at the University of Maine that includes more than 30 partners, including private companies interested in offshore wind development.
Projects at any of the three sites will still have to go through an extensive permitting process before starting up.
Jake Ward, Assistant Vice President of Research, Economic Development and Governmental Relations at the University of Maine, says that at the Monhegan research site, "Our goal is to demonstrate technology that can be deployed and thrive in that environment." And he said they want to determine whether composite materials, rather than steel, can be used in the components.
"We need to validate whether the technology will work," said Ward. As to the likelihood that it will, he says, "I think it's an engineering challenge." And, he says, a major question is whether it can be economically viable - with the cost of equipment, installation, generation - for the market to bear.
As to what impact the Monhegan demonstration site will have on the island and the area, Ward said they were just starting to hone in on the final selection of the Monhegan site, but they had done a first look at all the sites that were in contention.
"We know that there are some receptive folks on Monhegan," said Ward. "We want to try to minimize interference with ongoing activity."
Ward said they have a test plan they'd like to accomplish, but the permitting process is extensive, so "we have to crawl before we walk before we run."
They expect to start with a 10-kilowatt model turbine that would be about 70 to 80 feet tall, like the mast of a windjammer, said Ward, adding that there's not enough money yet for a cable. Then, they'd design a 100-kilowatt tower, as learning progresses, with a final goal five years out to design a full-scale commercial 5-megawatt turbine, that would be a bit larger than the one on Vinalhaven, with the ability to generate power and cable it, "if we can make the small models work," he said. The Monhegan site is permitted only for R&D, not commercial development.
The three offshore wind demonstration sites are a product of Governor Baldacci's Ocean Energy Task Force, which was created last year "to recommend a strategy for moving forward expeditiously to develop the vast, indigenous, renewable ocean energy resources that lie off Maine's coast."
The task force recommended changes in state law to facilitate siting and development of wind and tidal power demonstration projects, which the Legislature enacted in June. A key part of the law required the state to identify up to five areas in state waters where wind-energy demonstration projects would be best conducted and specified that deep-water wind-energy technology researchers at the University of Maine would conduct test projects at one of the sites.
The final report of the task force, which came out in November, says, "Development of Maine's vast offshore wind resource, particularly that in deepwater areas in federal waters, is of central importance if Maine is to achieve true energy independence. The Task Force recognizes there are significant questions regarding the timetable under which development of Maine's most promising deepwater resources may become technically viable and economic. Key technologies needed to tap deepwater wind resources, for example, are just now beginning to be tested, and may be years away from commercialization. Present economic conditions . . . do not favor commercial-scale offshore wind-energy development without government subsidy. Development of significant new generation in Maine will require additions to our transmission and distribution infrastructure, and a smarter grid, and recent events demonstrate the difficulties inherent with expansion of the grid. . . . Notwithstanding these major, inter-related and near-term challenges and obstacles . . . the Task Force believes that, if the state is serious about true energy independence, . . . steps must be taken now to lay the necessary groundwork for success as the needed technologies mature and favorable market conditions develop."
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
|
|
|
