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Updated: June 20, 2019

Mills signs 'long-overdue' law to promote offshore wind power

Maine Governor Janet Mills with lawmakers in Augusta Courtesy / Governor's Office Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday signed a bill requiring Maine's Public Utilities Commission to approve the contract for a floating offshore wind-power initiative she said was "long overdue."
By Staff

Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday signed into law an offshore wind-power development bill she sees putting Maine in a global leadership role.

The measure, LD 994, was sponsored by state Sen. David Woodsome, R-Waterboro.

It requires Maine's Public Utilities Commission to approve the contract for the Maine Aqua Ventus project at the University of Maine, a first-of-its-kind demonstration project of offshore wind in the United States.

"With the innovative work being done at the University of Maine, our state has the potential to lead the world in floating offshore wind development," Mills said in a news release. "This long-overdue bill will move us in that direction."

Wednesday's move puts offshore wind development back on track after numerous false starts and delays going back to 2010 under Mills' predecessor, Gov. Paul L. LePage.

Commending UMaine for its national R&D leadership around wind power and composite materials, Woodsome said: "The Aqua Ventus program is one more area where Maine can take the lead in the kind of research that could yield results that impact the world.

Separately on Wednesday, Mills announced that Maine has accepted an invitation to join a federally funded Gulf of Maine Intergovernmental Regional Task Force on offshore wind with New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The task force, which involves governmental agencies, will seek to identify potential opportunities for renewable energy leasing and development on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Maine.

Mills also announced plans to create the Maine Offshore Wind initiative, a state-based program to identify opportunities for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine, and to determine how Maine can best position itself to benefit from future projects.

Worker checking on a prototype offshore wind platform.
File Photo / Courtesy Maine Aqua Ventus
A worker at Cianbro's Brewer facility checks on a prototype offshore wind platform. The Maine Aqua Ventus pilot project will deploy floating turbines, designed by the University of Maine, off the coast of Maine.

 

The Maine Aqua Ventus pilot project, supported by $39.9 million in grant money from the U.S. Department of Energy, will deploy floating turbines, designed by the University of Maine, off the coast of Maine.

The turbines are to be assembled in Maine and provide clean energy to the state.

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3 Comments

Anonymous
June 20, 2019
A 2-megawatt windmill is made up of 260 tons of steel that required 300 tons of iron ore and 170 tons of coking coal all mined, transported and produced using hydrocarbon fuels. A windmill could run until it falls apart and never generate the amount of energy that was required to build and install it. Even Warren Buffet stated that without federal tax incentives that wind power would never make sense. Isn't it time we stop ridiculous ideas that have already proven to be wasteful and concentrate on ideas that have been shown to work?
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