Jake Ward is the assistant vice president of the University of Maine, Research, Economic Development and Government Relations. He spoke this week with Business Monday about offshore wind development.


Is Maine ahead of the curve in offshore wind development, compared to other states and countries?

Ward: In terms of current technology, the Europeans have hundreds of near shore rigid sea bottom mounted monopile turbines. Other East Coast states are planning for this type of technology. That's what you have in Cape Wind in Massachusetts, for example. Maine, however, is ahead of the curve in promoting, researching and demonstrating what's called floating platform technology, which is much like a floating oil platform that is anchored with cables. There is only one international company that has a single, full-scale floating platform in the water right now. So we are ahead in that regard.

What are the main technological challenges confronting off-shore wind development?

Ward: In Maine, water depth and proximity to shore are challenges. The water gets deep (more than 200 feet) very close to shore, which is an advantage in one sense because you can use a floating platform. Essentially, just as with shipbuilding, you can build a floating platform on land, tow it out, and hook it to an anchor. This is less costly than if you built a bottom mounted turbine because you need on-site equipment to build in an unpredictable harsh environment. The technical challenge is to design a floating platform that can survive harsh Atlantic winters and be economical to build. A non-technical challenge is to place these platforms where there is the least amount of user conflict.

Can you tell us about last year's commerce department grant to the University of Maine? How is that project coming along?

Ward: That was a $12 million grant from the NIST (U.S. Department of Commerce) to build a windblade research and development center. That facility is under construction now and will be opening in late spring or early summer. It has the capability and design, to build prototypes and to test large offshore wind blades up to 70 meters. And our current structures and composite center has the capacity to develop new advanced materials and composites, to implement new designs and automate fabrication. The end result is that you have bigger blades and better materials for longer life in the ocean environment.

What is the current state of affairs in terms of ocean wind permitting?

Ward: If your location is within three miles of land, permitting is regulated by the state with input from the appropriate federal agencies. Once beyond that, you have to deal with the federal government's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement. That agency is now evaluating its permitting process for offshore wind in hopes of streamlining things. Cape Wind, for example, took eight or nine years to get a permit. That's too long for developers and investors.

Are there any bills proposed in the current Congress that could help the industry?

Ward: There were some proposals for additional funding for offshore wind energy in the department of energy budget in the FY11 budget. The secretary of energy, for example, proposed some increases in off-shore wind energy research and development. But with the FY11 budget stalled and the federal government operating under continuing resolution, it is uncertain how and when those efforts will play out.

What about foreign markets? Are wind energy developers looking abroad to expand their operations?

Ward: There are two components to this. First you have people wanting to produce and sell electricity to the northeastern market, which has the one of the highest energy consumption rates in the country. So you have technology developers, builders of turbines, towers, and platforms, who want to build farms and sell energy. At the same time you have technology developers who build new platform designs to sell to wind farm developers in places like China, Japan and Korea, and/or technology producers from those countries wanting to sell into U.S. markets. We're seeing a lot of people in the northeastern coast talking to international developers, investors and technology suppliers.