CASTINE (AP) — The University of Maine says a scaled-down offshore wind turbine successfully withstood more than a dozen severe storms in its first year.
An event held in Castine on Friday with UMaine officials and members of Maine’s congressional delegation marked one year since the deployment of VolturnUS, a prototype that’s one-eighth the scale of a full-size turbine.
UMaine also signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy that will give the university $3.8 million to continue design and engineering work on the full-scale turbine.
UMaine and its partner companies hope to build a two-turbine, 12-megawatt project 15 miles off shore near Monhegan Island.
The project was dealt a blow earlier this year when it lost a competition for a $47 million grant to proposals in other states.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less