BOOTHBAY, Maine — Statoil North America, which is aiming to test cutting-edge floating wind turbines off the coast of Maine, has scheduled three public information sessions next week, the first of which is Monday in Boothbay.
Statoil is an international wind company from Norway that has submitted an application to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and a proposal to the Maine Public Utilities Commission to build four floating wind turbines in federal waters off the coast of Maine in 2016. The company also is seeking permission to connect the New England Power Grid through ISO New England, according to Kari Hege Mork, a spokeswoman for Statoil.
“This will be an informal setting,” said Mork. “We hope to have an open dialogue with the public.”
The lease area for the “Hywind Maine” project, which lies about 12 nautical miles from the coast of Boothbay, is about 22 square miles, but the actual turbines would use an area of less than 4 square miles. The floating wind turbines would be installed in around 500 feet of water and tethered to the ocean floor.
Statoil, which seeks to build four 3-megawatt turbines, is working on a similar deep-sea pilot program off the coast of Scotland and already has a test turbine installed in Norway.
“We have a full-scale floating wind turbine that has been operating for two years off the coast of Norway,” said Mork. “The next step would be to have a pilot project for four floating turbines and Maine is one opportunity which offers stable wind conditions, good water depth for floating constructions and it is also close to the demand center for power.”
Mork said Statoil is proceeding on two fronts but is unsure what the future holds.
“We are looking for opportunities to build a pilot park in Scotland and in Maine,” she said. “We might do both of them, one of them or maybe none of them. That final decision has not been made.”
Monday’s public information session is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. at Boothbay Firehouse at 911 Wiscasset Road in Boothbay. There are similar sessions scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Rockland Public Library at 80 Union St., and at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute at 350 Commercial St. in Portland.
The Statoil sessions will be in open house format, and designed for interested parties to ask questions and learn about the status of the regulatory process.
How about a U.S., and better yet a MAINE company doing this project?
Mainers do not let this happen. You own the wind, do not let this become privatized.They will rip you off with high energy cost. Let cities and towns own this wind farm. Let there be an electric co-op that co-owns the wind farm. You have been taken to the cleaners by oil and energy speculators, don’t let this happen with one of the only resources we have in this state. Keep it Public!
It dose’nt get any greener then hydro. What the earth does to its self is far worse then a dam. Life finds away as long as it is organic. Build a fish ladder and be done with this nonsense. Foolish to be a guinea pig for these wirlygig dreamers, when you can be a leader in hydro.
Another company riding into town ostensibly to save the planet but with the real purpose of picking the taxpayer’s pockets, feasting on the ill conceived subsidies – our money handed out by the irresponsible and inept U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C., the District of Cronyism.
And all the while ratepayers, including struggling Maine businesses will be suffocated by the sky high electricity rates that are wrought by near useless wind power.
Pretty exciting stuff, BUT COUNT TO 10, FOLKS!!!!
This is a good chance to ask a lot of questions before Statoil creates a fait d’accompli. Here are ten for starters:
1. Do we need new electricity generation?
2. If we do, when, how much of it, and what type (base load, marginal, peaking, etc)?
3. Can the supposedly good wind resource in the ocean produce reliably enough to decommission even one dirty power plant in New England?
4. How many offshore turbines (at what cost) would they need to deploy in order to accomplish #3?
5. Exactly how much of our rate dollars and tax dollars have been and will be “invested” in this demonstration project?
6. Onshore wind developers have adeptly socialized the risk and privatized the return. What guarantees do ratepayers and taxpayers have that they will NOT assume any risk, either by “investing” in the research (which could be reasonable) or by being forced eventually to buy the costly electricity that one day will come to market?7. What are the plans for an objective, scientific analysis of the risk/return, impacts/benefits…including transmission, including rates, including inability to replace or displace environmentally and politically undesirable generators? 8. If offshore wind projects ever reach critical mass they will be social infrastructure worthy of Homeland Security protection. What is the defense plan?9. Will our regulatory agencies like PUC, FERC, and others PROTECT us by demanding performance, or will they (as they are doing with onshore wind) continue to mandate that uncompetitive methodologies can remain uncompetitive because they get special treatment, mandated power purchasing contracts, subsidies, etc?10. Will the Maine Public Advocate insist that offshore wind will never creep from a cool research project to an entitlement point of no return “market solution” that saddles us ?
Gulf of Maine Ocean Wind Energy Exploitation Portal
http://penbay.org/wind/mainewind.html
See especially
http://tinyurl.com/statbucks “Statoil’s Maine Floating Wind Project Lacks Sufficient State Support to Begin Construction”
right on Laura and Patten Pete..time these exploiters leave our beautiful already energy efficient Maine ALONE to our stars and wildlife…and natural resources being despoiled by them …and yes well composted I also agree Maine is a foolish guinea pig that needs to smarten up.
Where will the enormous transmission blight with the over sized towers be from this project if it ever gets off the ground?
Vermont recently cut a 20 year deal for Canadian hydro at six cents a kWh. In Rhode Island, they are looking at 23 cents per kWh for offshore wind in less expensive shallow water.
The enviros like NRCM tell us Canadian hydro is bad as we must protect the wind industry.
Here are some Maine legislators who sold Mainers out on this. We could probably get dirt cheap Canadian hydro electricity if not for these sellouts as well as almost all of the Democrats in the legislature.
http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/the-eight-republican-reps-who-undermined-gov-lepage-on-ld-1863
James Lovelock, the “godfather of global warming” and originator of the environmental movement’s “Gaia Theory” was quoted earlier today as follows:
“So-called ‘sustainable development’ … is meaningless drivel … We rushed into renewable energy without any thought. The schemes are largely hopelessly inefficient and unpleasant. I personally can’t stand windmills at any price.”
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/22/green-drivel
Why is Norway targeting Maine? Why only ONE test turbine in Norway (do they call one floating turbine a “park”?) and FOUR floating test turbines in Maine? Could this have anything to do with our extremely generous tax payer funded renewable subsidies or are the Norwegians financing this “test park” out of their own taxpayers pockets? Are we the only country that offers renewable subsidies to other countries like Spain and Portugal and etc?
“At least one other European offshore wind developer – Statoil – recently suggested that state-level support for a deepwater floating demonstration project proposed in Maine was insufficient and that its project would need further financial support at the federal level to develop offshore wind off the U.S. Atlantic coast.” See http://tinyurl.com/statcash (May 17, 2012 Offshore Wind Wire)