Maine’s future in the offshore wind industry took another major hit last week when the federal government announced the University of Maine’s proposal to build an offshore wind pilot project would not receive a $47 million grant to move it forward.
The state and UMaine officials were banking on the federal grant, and now must hope one of the recipients drops out or fails to meet the parameters of the grant program ”“ moving the university up to one of those slots. Its other option would be to find private industry investors to make the project a reality.
In the meantime, the university did receive a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to pursue the design and engineering for the Maine Aqua Ventus project.
Although officials remain hopeful the university will secure grant or private funding in the future, the process to get the offshore wind industry up and running in the state has been marred by politics, and by Gov. Paul LePage’s administration’s efforts to keep UMaine at the top of the short list to move such efforts forward.
Last fall, the Associated Press showed that LePage administration officials worked to derail a Norwegian company’s proposal to site offshore wind turbines off the state’s coast. Statoil, an oil and gas company based in Norway, submitted the winning bid for the state’s $120 million project last year to site four wind turbines 12 miles off Boothbay Harbor, AP reported at the time. The state, however, reopened the bidding process to allow the University of Maine to bid; the university had missed the initial deadline.
As a result, Statoil withdrew its bid, and following the second round of bidding, UMaine was awarded the $120 million contract. However, state officials were counting on the federal grant money to help fund the $120-million project. Jeff Thaler, legal counsel for the project, told the AP last week that the stakeholders were waiting for the decision from the federal government before moving forward with negotiations for the 20-year contract with the state.
It’s unfortunate that UMaine did not receive the go-ahead to get the project up and running full-scale, and it’s also unfortunate that the process has been sullied by political maneuvering. Going forward, it would be ideal if UMaine could partner with a company like Statoil that has the expertise and funds to move the state forward in this developing industry.
It would be a major loss to Maine’s economy and job markets to see the state passed over in the future if other sites ”“ like federal grant awardees in New Jersey, Virginia and Oregon ”“ get a major jump on the technology and infrastructure needed to create offshore wind farms that will attract investors to this emerging energy market.
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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham Rousseau on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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