Earth Equity News

Deep Water Wind Power Firm Eyes Maine. By Kevin Miller, Bangor Daily News, August 10, 2008. A Boston company that is developing wind turbines capable of operating in deeper waters is eyeing the coast of Maine for a large wind-energy project. Representatives of Blue H USA have been talking with state leaders about their plans to locate a complex of wind turbines somewhere in the Gulf of Maine... Experts estimate more than 100,000 megawatts of potential wind energy is available for tapping in the Gulf of Maine, where the resource blows strong and steady year round. By comparison, all homes and businesses in Maine eat up about 2,200 megawatts of electricity at peak usage on a hot summer day. The challenge has been developing technology capable of operating in deep waters. Blue H USA claims to have developed and patented a turbine that is shorter and lighter than most land-based industrial turbines yet produces more power. The turbines sit on a floating platform modeled after technology used with oil and gas drilling platforms. The two-bladed turbines can be located in 150- to 900-foot-deep water and are connected by chains to an enormous anchor weight. Because the turbines are deployed in deep waters far from shore, they should avoid the type of public relations battles with coastal landowners that has plagued the Cape Wind project near Cape Cod, company officials said. Blue H has deployed a demonstration turbine in Italian waters and hopes to begin construction on a full-scale, commercial project at the Italian site next year."