The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will begin accepting public comments Friday for a project that could place enormous floating wind turbines in federal waters about 12 nautical miles off the Maine coast.
The first element of the two-part public comment process will determine whether firms other than Statoil North America, which last year filed an application for the project, have interest in constructing wind turbines in the same waters, Theresa Eisenman of the bureau said Thursday. If other potential wind farm developers emerge, it will affect whether the bureau treats the lease as competitive or noncompetitive. The deadline to submit comments related to competitive aspects of the lease application is Oct. 9.
A second element of the comment gathering relates to potential environmental impacts of the proposal. Those comments will be accepted through Nov. 8.
Whether competitors emerge will determine how the ocean energy bureau progresses with environmental assessment, Eisenman said.
Statoil North America is a subsidiary of a major European energy company whose primary focus is petroleum products. It filed an application for a commercial wind energy lease in October 2011.
The application seeks a commercial wind lease for approximately 22 square miles. The area may be reduced based on the environmental impact analysis and other factors, according to a press release from the bureau.
The project aims to have a 12-megawatt production capacity through four wind turbine generators. The Statoil proposal also responds to a request for proposals issued by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
Statoil North America, which calls its project “ Hywind Maine,” also seeks permission to connect to the ISO New England power grid and has submitted a proposal to the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
“This is the first time that this innovative floating technology is being considered for development in deeper waters offshore our coasts,” Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes said in the release.
Rep. Mike Michaud, a Democrat who represents Maine’s 2nd District, and Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican, both praised the move.
“The innovative floating wind turbine technology will open up deeper waters off our coasts, helping Maine to create jobs and lead the nation in clean energy production,” Michaud said in a release.
“Maine is uniquely positioned to harness offshore wind energy, and the public’s input in successfully developing this industry is absolutely critical,” Snowe said in a release. “I am encouraged that the Department of the Interior is progressing to a public comment stage, allowing our fishermen and other stakeholders the opportunity to voice their opinions on how to best ensure that the development of offshore wind is undertaken in concert with the individuals who understand these waters better than anyone else.”
On Aug. 3, Gov. Paul LePage characterized wind power as a “boutique energy source.” However, in June, Ken Fletcher, director of LePage’s Office of Energy Independence and Security, told the Bangor Daily News that he and the LePage administration support the Hywind project in concept. Fletcher said the project is essentially about research and development and should be explored along with other solutions to Maine’s overdependence on foreign oil.
The public comment period “to solicit submissions of indications of competitive interest and additional information on potential environmental consequences and other uses of the proposed lease area” opens Friday.
To comment, go to the comments section of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management website.
Written comments can be mailed to Program Manager, Office of Renewable Energy (HM 1328), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 381 Elden St., Herndon, VA 20170-4817.
A map of the area proposed and copy of the application is available at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Let’s take out the government subsidies and see where Wind Power lands, and how much of any alternative it offers. Aside from the money grab these companies are getting ready to deploy on the american tax base.
ok. let’s take the subsidies away from the oil companies, too.
yes and see what happens to food prices with our farm subsidies.
SERIOUSLY??? Is this good reporting????
“…should be explored along with other solutions to Maine’s overdependence on foreign oil…”
Reality: Last year Maine got .4% (less than one half of one percent) of its electricity generation from oil, hardly any of it foreign.
And how many homes were heated with electricity last year? Maine’s dependence on foreign oil is not limited to production of electricity. We have one of the the highest rates in the nation of homes heated with oil. If we can get the cost of electricity low enough and reliable enough then heating homes with electricity becomes viable.
At current electricity rates of approximately 15 cents per kilowatt hour heating oil would have to exceed $6.00 per gallon to be of comparable energy unit cost. Approximately one-third of Maine’s electrcity cost is for the energy component, or 5 cents per kilowatt hour. The New England Governors task force (NESCOE) recently reported that their study of wind generated electricity would cost an estimated 12.5 to 40.0 cents per kilowatt (on-shore versus off-shore) without including the additional cost of grid expansion required to move wind electricity from remote locations to population density centers. If lowering electrcity cost is the objective it will never come from wind turbines.
With the improvement in air source heat pump technology we can now heat our homes with electricity. Even LePage is on board with this.
The question is where will the electricity come from. We can continue to buy it from the monopolies that produce and distribute energy or we make it ourselves. I would choose Maine made.
Check feed-in tariff at http://www.windworks.org
FYI. ISO-NE including Maine is a de-regulated market so there are no monopolies of power generation. Maine has domestic generating capacity which is 2.5X greater then average domestic consumption. Maine currently generates over 48% of its power from renewable sources without wind energy. At the current rate of power consumption growth Maine has enough capacity to satisfy demand for the next 30-40 years.
What do you consider to be renewable resources? How much of that is a fuel source that needs to be burned? And how much is hydro dams? Curious as I don’t know the break down.
According to EIA Maine’s Renewable generation for 2011 consisted of 21.7% Hydro, 22.4% Wood/Biomass and 3.9% MuniWaste/Other.
It’s factual reporting. Though oil is not a major source of electric generation in Maine fossil fuels are.
Your objection to wind generated electricity is a curiosity to me. Ridge or mountain top wind is a concern for me. Climate change is a greater concern. Objecting to off shore wind seems a little over the top.
Do you also object to electricity produced from solar?
Are you taking money from the fossil fuel industry?
Over the years, they have enjoyed the sweet smell of aromatic hydrocarbons wafting in the breeze from refineries and petro-chemical plants in southern Louisiana. Years ago, they thrilled to the acrid fumes from steel mill coke ovens and blast furnaces in Gary/East Chicago, Indiana. Now the state of Maine rushes in to pick up the mantle of modern-day industrial blight.
Ever vacation in either of those other places? So much for “Vacationland.”
I wonder if Angus is involved?
most likely.
politics..Mr Fletcher and Governor LePage are you for or against wind? rhetoric!
Hopefully we can discover some new mollusk that would be inconvenienced by these towers and we can kill it.