Photo credit: Shutterstock/Teun van den Dries
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has executed the first U.S. floating offshore wind energy research lease, covering nearly 15,000 acres off the coast of Maine.
The groundbreaking lease is situated 28 nautical miles off the coast of Maine on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and is poised to host up to 12 floating offshore wind turbines, with a potential to generate 144 megawatts of renewable energy.
The research initiative, a collaboration between the State of Maine, the fishing community, wildlife experts, and the offshore wind industry, aims to study the potential of floating offshore wind energy, its environmental impacts, and its compatibility with existing ocean uses.
“Floating wind opens up opportunities to produce renewable energy in deeper water farther offshore,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein.
Maine Governor Janet Mills touted offshore winds as offering a historic opportunity for Maine to create good-paying jobs, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and fight climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
The Department of the Interior, under the Biden-Harris administration, has approved nine offshore wind projects with over 13 gigawatts of capacity, enough to power nearly 5 million homes. It has conducted five offshore wind lease auctions, including record-breaking sales offshore New York and in new locations such as the Pacific Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, and plans up to 12 more lease sales by 2028.
The State of Maine’s renewable energy research lease application, submitted in 2021, led to BOEM’s Determination of No Competitive Interest in March 2023, and after an environmental assessment, the lease was offered to Maine on May 24, 2024.
As a research lease, Maine or its appointed operator will explore both environmental and engineering aspects of the project, with findings made publicly available to inform future commercial-scale floating offshore wind projects. While construction activity on the research array is not anticipated for several years, the lessee must first submit a Research Activities Plan to BOEM, which will be subject to environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act.
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