Floating turbine to tap Maine’s offshore wind potential

US today launched the prototype of North America's first floating windmill that will produce power in the Penobscot River, taking the first big step in a process that could tap an offshore wind resource offering a potential equivalent to 75 Hoover Dams or 100 nuclear power plants.

The 65-foot-tall turbine prototype is about an eighth of the size of a full-scale wind turbine that the consortium led by University of Maine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center would launch in 2016. The VolturnUS, as the prototype floating turbine is called, was built by the Cianbro construction company at its riverside site, near Bangor.

The prototype would be towed roughly 30 miles from Brewer down the Penobscot River to Castine during the next several days, and once moored it would be hooked up to the grid and start generating electricity, making it the first on the continent to do so. It also is the first in the world with a composite and concrete design that would make it weather resistant and stable in rough seas.

According to Habib Dagher, director of Advanced Structures and Composites Centre at UMaine, it would survive the perfect storm.

By 2030, developers look to produce 5 gigawatts of offshore wind power from turbines, enough to power over a million homes at any moment. They say the plan could attract investments of billions of dollars creating thousands of jobs.

It was fitting that the new technology was launched on the banks of the Penobscot River, as from a historical perspective, a hundred years ago, Maine exploited a plentiful natural resource, wood, to build an economy. The wood products manufactured in the state made the area the lumber capital of the world.

Hundreds of people stood yesterday in the scorching sun to watch the event, many pointing their smart phones to capture the moment. They cheered and clapped as the concrete base touched the river.

Maine's paper and lumber industry thrived partly due to its proximity to the growing Northeast. Today, Maine was within transmission line reach of 55 million people who needed affordable electricity.

The powerful, consistent winds blowing far off the coast have an energy potential of over a 100 nuclear power plants and according to offshore-wind supporters, if just a fraction of that energy could be economically tapped, Maine could develop a new manufacturing and service industry.

Peter Vigue, Cianbro's president and a member of the University of Maine-led DeepCwind Consortium, which launched the wind turbine, said that was the opportunity.