OCEAN ENERGY
ENGINEERING
| Advancing renewable energy research and development with the largest university-based research team focused on floating offshore wind, next-generation turbines, optimized novel hull and mooring concepts, and coastal resiliency.
OCEAN ENERGY ENGINEERING
Advancing renewable energy research and development with the largest university-based research team focused on floating offshore wind, next-generation turbines, optimized novel hull and mooring concepts, and coastal resiliency.
CLIMATE SOLUTIONS
The Future is Floating.
The Ocean Engineering & Energy team is researching and developing innovative solutions to address climate change. Research is conducted in a state-of-the-art facility that includes the Alfond W2 (wind wave) Ocean Engineering Lab. The W2 is equipped with a high-performance rotatable wind machine over a multi-directional save basin. The facility accurately simulates tow tests, variable water depths, and scaled wind and wave conditions that represent some of the worst storms possible anywhere on earth.
The Ocean Engineering & Energy team collaborates with businesses and other research institutions in developing products for the marine economy while offering hands-on training for students. These products include ocean energy devices such as floating offshore wind turbines, marine hydrokinetic devices (wave energy converters, tidal energy, etc.); aquaculture technology; improved boat and ship hulls; waterfront infrastructure such as bridges, piers, docks, and port facilities; as well as systems to protect coastal cities from effects of erosion and extreme storms.
Offshore Wind Research
VolturnUS Hull Technology
The UMaine-developed, patented, VolturnUS floating concrete hull technology can support wind turbines in water depths of 45 meters or more and has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind. The VolturnUS technology is the culmination of more than a decade of collaborative research and development conducted by the University of Maine-led DeepCWind Consortium.
New England Aqua Ventus I is a Megawatt (MW) scale floating offshore wind demonstration project to develop a clean, renewable energy source off Maine’s shores.
The turbine is held in position by three synthetic mooring lines securely anchored to the seabed. The project goals are to demonstrate the innovative design of the VolturnUS concrete hull with a full-size offshore wind turbine, evaluate ecological and fisheries impacts, work with local contractors and manufacturers to generate local economic benefit, create and keep Maine jobs, and provide renewable energy now and in the future.
DeepC LiDAR
An advanced metocean buoy outfitted with LiDAR that can be used in remote marine environments to provide high-quality, low-cost offshore wind resource data, metocean monitoring, and ecological characterization capabilities.
FOCAL
The Floating Offshore-wind and Controls Advanced Laboratory
The ASCC is collaborating with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to validate new, optimized designs for floating offshore wind. The Floating Offshore-wind and Controls Advanced Laboratory (FOCAL) experimental program will generate critical public data sets to advance the design of next-generation floating offshore wind turbines.
VolturnUS+
Building off of the success of the University of Maine’s patented VolturnUS concrete hull technology, VolturnUS+ provides a lighter weight hull, enhanced through motion mitigation technology.
