DOE Halts $13M Grant to U. Maine for Floating Offshore Wind Turbine R&D Construction

The Trump Administration has halted the College of Maine’s $12.5 million analysis grant to construct a floating offshore wind power turbine platform simply as a brand new 375-ton concrete prototype hull was launched to start operation this summer time within the Gulf of Maine. 

The U.S. Power Dept.’s ARPA-E analysis funding program stated In an April 11 letter it was “instantly suspending” the grant for 90 days to the college’s Superior Construction and Composites Middle, noting that no prices incurred through the suspension interval will probably be allowable.” The company awarded the grant below the Biden Administration to advance wind energy improvement in offshore areas reminiscent of Maine’s which are deeper than 150 ft, the restrict for generators mounted to the ocean backside. 

About two-thirds of US offshore wind power is in deep waters in accordance with federal knowledge. The Gulf of Maine has almost 156 GW of offshore wind capability inside 50 miles.

DOE stated the college didn’t adjust to “a number of” grant phrases however consists of no particular claims. Media reviews hyperlink the transfer to continued assaults by President Donald Trump on federal help for U.S offshore wind power improvement, but additionally to his ongoing dispute with Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) on an unrelated coverage difficulty, transgender athletes in highschool sports activities. DOE didn’t reply to media queries.

“The College of Maine System maintains it’s compliant with all state and federal legal guidelines, and with the situations of its federal grants and contracts, various which have been just lately terminated or suspended,”  system spokeswoman Samantha Warren stated in a press release. The college “is presently assessing the federal discover … and the following steps for the undertaking and associated Maine contracts and jobs.”  The suspension discover, posted on line by a state Republican legislator, says the College of Maine “has the proper to object and supply data and documentation difficult this suspension.”

The letter arrived solely hours after the lightweight concrete floating hull designed by university student and faculty researchers and fabricated by more than 50 local contractors was transported to Penobscot Bay, said Warren. It integrates a patented next-generation motion-mitigating system to reduce wave and wind impacts, the university said previously. 

Together with a damping system related to what’s utilized in tall buildings in seismic areas, the hull is lighter, smaller and more cost effective to assemble than variations which were beforehand examined, stated college builders that embody contractor Cianbro and the Marine Maritime Academy, The College of Maine launched the primary U.S. grid-connected floating turbine demonstration in 2013, with its knowledge used to enhance know-how of the present prototype.

Associated Improvement

In one other politically-connected motion, the developer of what was to be Maine’s irst offshore floating wind array, set to be primarily based on the VolturnUS know-how, has paused the undertaking. Pine Tree Offshore Wind requested to droop negotiations with state regulators to promote energy from a deliberate 12-turbine floating improvement in a federal Gulf of Maine lease space, with capability to generate 144 MW. The corporate requested the pause “on account of current shifts within the power panorama which have particularly brought on uncertainty within the offshore wind trade,” the Maine Public Utilities Fee stated in a March 28 submitting. 

“So the undertaking actually is kind of ready to considerably transfer ahead till that contract might be finalized,” stated Jack Shapiro, local weather and clear power director on the Pure Assets Council of Maine. 

The group additionally plans to help federal laws launched April 24 by Sens. Susan Collins (R) and Angus King (I) to ban administration proposed oil and fuel drilling off the New England  coast. “Offshore drilling alongside the coast may impression Mainers … for generations,” Collins stated in a press release. 

Shapiro stated earlier research have proven that the Gulf of Maine doesn’t have available oil and fuel reserves.