July 21, 2010
Senate Subcommittee Approves $10 Million for Deepwater Offshore Wind Program
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced late Tuesday a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee’s initial approval of a $10 million appropriation to support University of Maine deepwater offshore wind energy research and development.Collins, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, requested the funding. It was approved by the Subcommittee on Energy and Water.
“This is a critical step, and it is the result of Sen. Collins’ determination and her commitment to Maine,” says Prof. Habib Dagher, director of UMaine’s AEWC Advanced Structures and Composites Center and the lead researcher on this project.”
Collins has supported this work since the beginning, already having helped secure $25 million in federal funding as UMaine works toward developing and testing this technology. Plans call for the first 1/3 scale floating wind turbine to be deployed off Maine for testing in 2012. The additional funding will be used to build, deploy and test a full-scale prototype of a 5 megawatt floating wind turbine, using Maine companies and Maine labor.
“As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Collins has tremendous influence in the funding process and we all appreciate her tireless advocacy on behalf of this initiative,” Dagher adds. Read more…
