A University of Maine offshore wind demonstration project is set to gain a $40-million commercialization grant from the U.S. Energy Dept. after the agency opted late last month to withdraw funding from competitors in Virginia and Oregon whose projects were behind schedule or whose power-production costs were not deemed economically feasible.
Maine's promotion to finalist in the agency's Offshore Wind Advanced Technology Demonstration program follows the successful deployment in 2014 of the 1/8-scale Volturnus model, the first grid-connected floating offshore wind turbine in the nation. The project received a $3-million commitment from DOE when it was named as an alternate tin the program to help achieve commercialization by 2017.