Press Herald: Effort to Build Offshore Wind Industry in Maine may Hinge on 73 Cents

Tux Turkel at the Portland Press Herald recently authored a news article titled, “Effort to build offshore wind industry in Maine may hinge on 73 cents,” which refers to the University of Maine’s efforts to demonstrate its floating offshore wind technology full-scale.  Click here to read the full article from April 1, 2018.

Pending action at the PUC could imperil a 2014 power contract for floating turbines off Monhegan Island that would raise electric bills less than $1 a month

If the project stays on schedule, it likely will be the first full-scale floating wind project in North America. Testing the platform technology is considered key to deploying cost-effective wind farms in deep waters off the East Coast. The 2014 power contract, which would increase consumer electric bills by less than a dollar per month, also is crucial because both public and private investment is tied to it.

The immediate risk, advocates say, is $87 million in federal funding, thousands of hours of research and development and Maine’s reputation as a place to make renewable energy investments.

Longer term, the economic promise of manufacturing floating platforms for the nascent East Coast wind industry, as well as pioneering a new power source that could help electrify Maine and New England at competitive power rates, may be at stake.

Effort to build offshore wind industry in Maine may hinge on 73 cents