Application Submitted for Ocean Wind Energy Project South of Boothbay (Maine)

http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Application-Submitted-for-Ocean-Wind-Energy-Project-South-of-Boothbay/14640/

On November 30, federal regulators announced they have received a completed lease application for a pilot-scale wind power project in deep water south of Boothbay. State and federal members of the Maine Task Force of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will meet to review the unsolicited request for a lease for a wind-energy project from Norwegian-based gas and oil company Statoil on December 8 at the Marriot Hotel in South Portland, at 9:30 a.m. The meeting is open to the public, with limited opportunity for public comment.

The project is considered the first-of-its-kind prototype of a floating-platform turbine wind farm. In 2009, Statoil erected the first floating wind turbine off the coast of Norway. This project would be considered small in scale in comparison to other wind projects, but would be the largest floating turbine project in the world, according to Statoil spokesman Ola Morten Aanestad.

Statoil is considering several sites around the world for its first floating wind turbine power project; published reports quoting Statoil spokespeople say the company is also considering a site in Scotland, although Aanestad declined to confirm this. It is also unclear whether the sites are in competition.

“Probably it would be one, but it depends,” said Aanestad. “Maine is one of the sites which has come the furthest.”

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