A Promising Development for Floating Offshore Wind in the U.S.
The first floating offshore wind energy research lease in the United States was issued today to the state of Maine
This afternoon, Reuters reported that the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued the first lease for floating offshore wind energy research in the United States, to the state of Maine. “Floating wind opens up opportunities to produce renewable energy in deeper water farther offshore,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein in a press release today.
While there are already non-floating offshore wind farms in the United States, this research lease would let researchers, conservationists, wind energy companies, and others gather engineering and environmental considerations for wind turbines in deep water that don’t need to be fixed in place to the sea floor.
Maine applied for the lease in 2021, and it went through a process in which BOEM coordinated with the State of Maine Governor’s Energy Office. Maine Governor Janet Mills said, “Clean energy from offshore wind offers an historic opportunity for Maine to create good-paying jobs, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and fight climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.”
The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) describes the process of getting community input on site selection for the research lease, on their website. At meetings with the public and specific groups, BOEM and NCCOS heard the “perspectives of interested parties, who voiced their priorities and concerns, raised questions, and offered valuable insights that significantly influenced the suitability model and decision-making process at every stage.”
NCCOS gave examples of the kinds of feedback from groups that they responded to. Lobstermen from Maine had concerns about the “data quality from the lobster industry to inform the modeling process.” The Passamaquoddy Tribes of Indians (Pleasant Point) had concerns about the area that represented their fishing practices, both current and historic. NCCOS says that adjustments were made to suitability ratings due to these types of concerns.
According to other reporting by Reuters this time last year, the largest floating wind farm in the world is in Norway. The Hywind Tampen wind farm is run by the Norwegian energy firm Equinor, in partnership with other oil firms. It reached full output in August 2023, using a new technology in which wind turbines are attached to a floating base, which is anchored to the sea floor.
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Notes:
https://www.boem.gov/newsroom/press-releases/boem-issues-offshore-wind-research-lease-state-maine
https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/maine/gulf-maine
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/771b8c91e5714eb3830f4ab8c0924a71