Offshore

Maine gets a lease area for floating offshore wind research. What’s next?

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Maine gets a lease area for floating offshore wind research. What’s next?
(WindFloat by Principle Power, Inc. is one example of the platform systems developed from oil and gas technology currently available to offshore floating wind project developers. Photo by NREL )

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the execution of the nation’s first floating offshore wind energy research lease, located offshore Maine.

The lease area covers a little under 15,000 acres located 28 nautical miles offshore Maine on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and could allow for the deployment of up to 12 floating offshore wind turbines capable of generating up to 144 MW of renewable energy, BOEM said.

The research array is meant to allow the state, the fishing community, wildlife experts, the offshore wind industry, and others to conduct studies and evaluate floating offshore wind as a renewable energy source in the region. Research conducted on the array will evaluate its compatibility with existing ocean uses and assess its potential effects on the environment, supply chains, and job creation, BOEM added.

“Floating wind opens up opportunities to produce renewable energy in deeper water farther offshore,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “Signing the Gulf of Maine research lease demonstrates the commitment by both BOEM and the State of Maine to promote a clean energy future for the nation. It is another example of a successful all-of-government effort to reach the Administration’s offshore wind energy goals and to combat the impacts of climate change.”

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Information gathered from the research lease is intended to inform commercial floating offshore wind development in the future and allow BOEM and Maine to capitalize on new technology while protecting local and national interests and industries, BOEM said.

“Clean energy from offshore wind offers an historic opportunity for Maine to create good-paying jobs, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and fight climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions,” said Maine Governor Janet Mills. “This lease between the State and BOEM to support the nation’s first research array devoted to floating offshore wind technology is the result of extensive engagement with stakeholders and communities across our state to establish Maine as a leader in responsible offshore wind, in balance with our state’s marine economy and environment.”

Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of the Interior has held five offshore wind lease auctions – including a record-breaking sale offshore New York and the first-ever sales offshore the Pacific Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. The Department also recently announced a schedule to hold up to 12 additional lease sales through 2028. On August 14, BOEM held an offshore wind energy lease sale for two areas on the OCS off the Central Atlantic.

BOEM received an application from Maine for a renewable energy research lease in October 2021. On March 20, 2023, BOEM issued a Determination of No Competitive Interest for the area identified in Maine’s application. On May 24, 2024, BOEM offered a research lease to Maine after completing a Final Environmental Assessment and associated findings of no significant impacts. 

Construction activity on the research array is not likely to occur for several years, BOEM noted. The lessee is first required to submit a Research Activities Plan to BOEM, which will undergo environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act.

In other offshore news…

Last week, Ørsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind developer, announced a timeline delay at its 704 MW Revolution Wind project being built off the coasts of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Ørsted now plans to begin commercial operations in 2026 rather than 2025, as initially reported (and now it’s internet official on the project’s website). Revolution Wind is a 50/50 partnership between Ørsted and Eversource.

Eversource is building a substation necessary to connect the project to the regional grid on the site of a decommissioned naval air station, and it’s taking longer than expected to get rid of buried waste and soil contamination.

Earlier that week, provisional winning bids in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s latest offshore wind lease sale demonstrated the effects of inflation and supply chain issues on the price developers are willing to pay. Equinor’s top bid worked out to about $739 per acre of ocean; Dominion’s an even $100/acre- a far cry from the 2022 billion dollar bids by Bight Wind Holdings and $10,000+ per acre results. BOEM recently canceled its second Gulf of Mexico offshore wind lease sale due to a lack of competitive interest. 

Meanwhile, fiberglass, foam, and other debris have been washing ashore numerous New England beaches over the last few weeks after a suspected “manufacturing deviation” led to a Vineyard Wind 1 turbine breaking apart and falling into the ocean last month. Vineyard Wind GE Vernova released a public overview of its action plan addressing the next steps for the Vineyard 1 site and has since resumed construction.

The preceding months have included a cornucopia of wind procurement delays, blades ending up in other places they’re not supposed to be, utilities pulling out of PPAs, and projects being nixed for all sorts of reasons, generally with a bias toward supply chain and financial uncertainty. Among the lowlights: NYSERDA not going ahead with any of the three provisionally approved projects in its third offshore solicitation and Ørsted canceling two huge projects off the coast of New Jersey last October, Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2. The three New York projects could’ve generated more than 4 GW of clean energy; the Ocean Wind sites, nearly 2.25 GW.