Maine task force to identify offshore wind energy sites

…Maine’s test sites may also attract a company with big ambitions for offshore wind, StatoilHydro, a Norwegian oil and gas firm that’s expanding into worldwide energy ventures. Next month, the company plans to install a $62 million structure off Stavanger, Norway, for what it says is the world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine. Called Hywind, the unit will have a two-year test period.

StatoilHydro didn’t respond to an e-mail last week. But the company is monitoring the work of Maine’s task force and plans to begin video conferences this summer with representatives from the University of Maine, Cianbro and BIW, according to George Hart, chief technology officer at the Ocean Energy Institute. The research group, founded by energy investment banker and Rockport summer resident Matthew Simmons, is working to encourage large-scale offshore wind development in Maine.

Hart has been to Norway and is in contact with Statoil officials. They have expressed interest in testing Hywind off Maine, he said, once sites are designated. Hywind is designed to extend more than 300 feet below the ocean, so it will be far enough from land to avoid most conflicts with people.

“You’re not going to run into another Cape Wind,” Hart said.

Cape Wind is the controversial, 130-turbine project proposed nearly eight years ago in the shallow waters of Nantucket Sound, five miles from the Massachusetts coast. The plan has endured costly opposition from some politicians, boaters and residents. But it seems to be inching closer to approval now, supported by a state and federal government friendly to renewable energy.

Cape Wind has become a cautionary tale for Maine’s task force, though. Earlier this month, representatives from lobstering, groundfishing and aquaculture joined conservationists and recreational boaters to suggest how Maine can avoid the pitfalls of Cape Wind. Their overall message: Work closely from the start with coastal communities and interest groups to win support for Maine’s test sites.

Energy Current