A blog post authored by Asst. Secretary of Energy David Danielson featured his recent visit to UMaine and a successful first year of the VolturnUS 1:8 deployment.
Assistant Secretary Dr. Danielson speaks in front of the VolturnUS floating wind turbine off the coast of Castine, Maine.
“Here at EERE, we work to bridge the gap between research and development and deployment of clean energy innovations. Our task is to bring these game-changing, greenhouse gas emissions reducing renewable energy technologies to market. That’s a big challenge—and with many of our technologies in early stages of development, one of the most exciting experiences I have as the Assistant Secretary is seeing our advanced technologies in action.
Last month, I had the distinct privilege of celebrating the one-year anniversary of the successful deployment of the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine in the United States—albeit with a little bit of seasickness—in Maine.
The University of Maine utilized $12 million in funding from EERE to deploy the VolturnUS, a one-eighth scale prototype of a commercial scale offshore floating turbine. This is the first step toward developing an offshore wind industry in Maine. The University is setting a great example for the rest of the country for just how far we can go when we dedicate ourselves to clean energy innovation.”
