AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine is poised to launch an offshore wind program that will meet clear power targets and produce sufficient energy for about 900,000 properties from floating wind generators within the Gulf of Maine.
The aim requires requests for proposals to be issued for 3,000 megawatts of electrical energy from offshore wind generators by 2040. That’s sufficient electrical energy to energy about half of Maine’s electrical energy load.
The invoice was revised after a veto by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills to make sure non-union firms can get into the enterprise, setting a path to approval by the Maine Senate and House on Tuesday.
Approval would put Maine on a path to meet up with different states that have already got offshore wind tasks. The catch, nevertheless, is that the wind generators can be farther offshore than these tasks, and would contain floating generators. It additionally consists of incentives aimed toward guaranteeing wind energy builders avoid profitable lobster fishing grounds.
The invoice’s sponsor, Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-York, mentioned he believes the compromise invoice has crucial “guardrails in place to make sure this is done right and truly benefits Mainers.”
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management already authorized tasks that at the moment are beneath development off Massachusetts and off New York and Rhode Island, and it gave the inexperienced mild earlier this month for New Jersey’s first offshore wind to start development. Next month, it should maintain an public sale for leases within the Gulf of Mexico.
In Maine, the timeline requires the federal lease gross sales to be accomplished subsequent yr and for the state to launch request for proposals to function the offshore wind generators in early 2026.
The Gulf of Maine is taken into account a prize on the subject of constant, highly effective winds, however the water is just too deep for conventional wind generators which might be anchored to the ocean flooring. Maine officers hope firms will license know-how from the University of Maine, which has been pioneering precast floating generators that may be constructed on land and towed to sea.
“This is the invoice that may jumpstart the offshore wind business in Maine, mentioned Jack Shapiro, local weather and clear power director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
More than a decade in the past, the state was poised to host a $120 million wind challenge led by Norwegian firm Statoil, however Statoil backed out after the state reopened bidding to supply a chance to the University of Maine.
The U.S. may need roughly 2,000 of probably the most highly effective generators to fulfill its targets to ramp up offshore wind. Doing so would dramatically minimize its use of fossil fuels, shield the ambiance and cut back local weather change.
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