The University of Maine-led New
England Aqua Ventus I
offshore wind project,
has been awarded an additional $3.7 million (€3.48m)
from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to complete engineering and planning
work, and approach financial close.
The funding is in addition
to $3 million (€2.82m)
awarded by DOE in September 2014 to advance the design to deployment readiness.
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In
May 2014, New
England/Maine Aqua Ventus I
was selected by the DOE for the next phase of its Advanced Technology Demonstration
Program. At that time, DOE provided UMaine with $3 million. Maine’s VolturnUS
technology was successfully demonstrated on a pilot scale near Castine,
Maine.
VolturnUS 1:8, the first grid-connected
offshore wind turbine deployed off the coast of North America, was launched
in Brewer May 31, 2013 by the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures
and Composites Center and its partners. The prototype, the first concrete-composite
floating platform wind turbine deployed in the world, remained off the
coast of Castine, Maine for 1.5 years.
Over 50 onboard sensors measured
waves, wind, current, motions and stresses on the floating platform. The
data collected was used to further optimise the full-scale 6 MW concrete
hull design.
Over the past year, cost studies
were conducted with contractors from across the U.S. and the world. The
study assessed the potential cost-reduction advantages of the VolturnUS
floating concrete hull technology said UMaine's Advanced Structures and
Composite Center.
Professor Habib Dagher,
executive director of UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center
and principal investigator of the DeepCwind Consortium, said: “We
continue to make significant progress by demonstrating the technical advantages
and cost reductions of the VolturnUS floating concrete offshore wind technology.
Our team is busy putting the final touches on the design of the 6MW hulls
for the two-turbine, 12MW demonstration project. The additional funding
will help us complete all aspects of the project planning, negotiate supply
contracts with industrial partners and approach financial close for the
project. The UMaine VolturnUS technology has important national impact
as it allows us to more cost effectively access over 50 percent of the
U.S. offshore wind resource in deep waters within 50 miles of the coast,
and creates local and regional jobs as the hulls can be produced near the
project site.”
New
England/Maine Aqua Ventus
is considered part of the DOE’s offshore wind portfolio under the Offshore
Wind Advanced Technology Demonstration Projects, along with projects in
Virginia, New Jersey, Oregon and Ohio.
The New
England Aqua Ventus I
developers, Maine Aqua Ventus, plans to install two 6MW direct drive-drive
turbines on concrete semi submersible foundations as part of a pilot project.
The foundations could offer a cost-effective alternative to steel foundations
and may be explored on a commercial scale.
