Two fabled Lincoln County islands could become the birthplace of Maine’s major offshore wind power industry, a move that supporters and potential opponents greeted with just two words: Cautiously optimistic.
On Tuesday, Gov. John E. Baldacci, following an intense study by a hand picked commission, named Damariscove and Monhegan islands as test sites for new offshore deepwater wind power technologies in Maine’s coastal waters. The commission also picked a site off Boon Island in southern Maine.
In recent months, Maine’s state and federal elected officials have actively pushed for offshore wind power, a concept that was described in a Wall Street Journal blog as the “Holy Grail” of renewable energy – “clean, abundant and out of sight.”
In a Tuesday morning news conference, Baldacci said initially, the most active site will be south of Monhegan.
At a site about three miles off the storied island, long a Mecca for artists, the University of Maine will conduct initial research. The university was recently awarded an $8 million federal grant to study offshore wind power.
The sites off Damariscove, near Boothbay, and Boone Island, near York, will be available to commercial industrial experimentation, but they will be subject to a strict permitting process.
Dr. Robert Marvinney, the state geologist who led the site selection study, said the three sites were chosen to minimize most of the complaints voiced by the fishing industry.
“They [sites] are not perfect. Fishermen had concern about every one of these but we worked with them to a find a reasonable compromise,” he said.
Two Lincoln County legislators, W. Bruce MacDonald, (D-Boothbay) and Jonathan McKane, (R-Newcastle) expressed “cautious optimism” at the announcement. Both legislators voted in favor of the bill that authorized the wind power experiment.
“Most of the work will take place off Monhegan. The other two sites will be subject to the permitting process. At this time, “there is no one lined up to do anything,” said MacDonald.
“As for fishermen the biggest complaint is they want some recompense [for loss of bottom and gear],” he said.
McKane said he didn’t want the process to “go too far too fast. I have constituents who have questions about the environment and the fishery. I wonder who will finally get the power. Will it go to Maine?” he asked.
Marvinney said the university would likely begin the Monhegan research project with an effort by installing towers for equipment to measure the wind and weather and other natural conditions off shore.
Initial experiments will likely not bring power on shore, but will test the equipment needed to produce the energy. Unlike onshore wind farms, these deepwater turbines are expected to be on floating platforms anchored to the bottom.
Studies will also begin to study bird migrations and other resource related items.
Work is scheduled to begin on Monhegan some time in 2011 with a small unit. As each piece of equipment is tested, larger ones will be installed, Marvinney said.
The state geologist also cautioned the test sites are not considered a good location for a larger wind farm.
“What we picked are the best locations in state waters to test deepwater technology. We did not pick the best sites for commercial wind farms. A lot of people are concerned these sites will be the sites for farms, but these are not the best places to do it,” said Marvinney.
The University of Maine test project will last for five years. The other two at Boone and Damariscove islands will permit experiments for three years.
If successful, a large-scale offshore floating wind farm is expected to be built out of sight of land where the strongest winds are found.
The Boothbay Region Land Trust owns historic Damariscove Island, home to one of the earliest European settlements in North America.
BRLT Executive Director Julie Lamy offered a cautious statement on the Baldacci announcement.
“The BRLT is supportive of alternative energy and this project has the potential to positively impact Maine’s economy and greatly reduce our local and regional dependence on fossil fuels.
“As with the rest of the community, we will be monitoring test results to see the impact, if any, on local fisheries and bird migratory routes.
“We also understand that should tests be successful, permanent wind turbine sites will be located much further offshore, perhaps mitigating or lessening any impact on fisheries and bird populations for future years,” Lamy said.
Lobsterman Clive Farrin, the face of a series of TV commercials promoting Maine lobsters said he was “on the fence” about the project.
“It is only a test site to test the technology and the mooring system, but I am worried about the tug and barge traffic. It does not matter what time of the year they do the project – somewhere in their travels they have to meet lobster gear.
“Those tugs are not always careful with their comings and goings. We have had some incidents when tugs and barges have snagged a lot of gear,” Farrin said.
The longtime lobsterman’s feelings were echoed by Michele Gryga, a Nobleboro lawyer representing the Maine Lobsterman’s Association who said the group is “cautiously supportive” of the test proposal.
“We are against large scale projects in Maine state waters as 76 percent of Maine Lobstermen fish in state waters. We just don’t want them to put up a project do it in shallow depths and that is state waters,” she said.
One of the nation’s experts on lobsters is Richard A. Whale, Ph.D., a biologist and senior research scientist at Boothbay Harbor’s Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
Whale calls Damariscove the center of the universe of the lobster world in Maine. It is one of the principal lobster settlement areas for larvae.
He explained that lobster larvae hatch off their mothers and are carried by wind and currents to areas where they grow, areas like Damariscove.
“The question is how much wind energy will be diverted and how it will affect the nursery.
“As I understand it, the experimental wind projects are floating so they won’t have to put down a big base, so I don’t see them having a huge impact with the lobster nursery and might not interfere with adult lobsters moving.
“It might have an impact on the immediate area and that could be a concern,” Whale said.
Nancy Sferra is the director of science and stewardship for Maine Nature Conservancy a former owner of Damariscove. The NC owns and manages 285,000 acres in the state.
Sferra urged careful monitoring of the experiments suggesting adding outside experts to help study the effects on nature.
“We are interested in climate change issue to adapt and searching out new energy resources and we are in favor of any properly sited wind power project.
“With the designated test sites, we think it is good, but we want to make sure any motoring plans for the test sites will produce good data to check the effect on the natural resources including fishing and wildlife.
“Damariscove is home to one of the largest eider duck nesting sites in the state and we want to make sure they monitor the impact on the island’s wildlife resources.
“We would be very supportive of creating a science advisory committee to really look over the science data produced in the monitoring process.
“Peer review of that data would provide a great deal of credibility for that project,” Sferra said.
In June, the Maine legislature mandated the state conservation and planning offices work together to identify sites for demonstration projects for offshore wind projects. The group initially named seven sites, finally narrowing the choice to three.
The law requires developers to relocate or remove any project that has an adverse effect on the environment.
A task force, headed by Marvinney, has traveled the state talking to fishermen, public officials, coastal residents and other interested parties seeking their opinions.
Marvinney said the sites are in Maine-controlled state waters so the state can control the permitting process. The site must be in deep (200-feet) water, possess average wind speeds of 17 mph, and be free of obstructions.
In September, Norwegian energy giant Statoil put together the first major floating offshore wind turbine. It is a 2.3-megawatt facility installed on a traditional floating platform similar to those used in floating oil production.
The Stateoil project, called Hywind, features a tower that is 213-feet high.
