Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
A United States Senate subcommittee has initially approved $10 million in federal funding for offshore wind research and development at the University of Maine’s AEWC Advanced Structures and Composites Center, according to a university press release.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced late Tuesday that her request for the funding was approved by the Subcommittee on Energy and Water, which operates under the Senate Appropriations Committee that Collins is a member of.
“This is a critical step, and it is the result of Sen. Collins’ determination and her commitment to Maine,” Habib Dagher, director of the AEWC Advanced Structures and Composites Center, said in the release.
Collins invited U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to the UMaine campus in June, where they toured the AEWC laboratory with Dagher, Gov. John Baldacci and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, and Mike Michaud, D-2nd District. Shortly after the visit, Chu pledged $20 million in new money for offshore wind development.
According to the release, additional funding will help researchers “build, deploy and test a full-scale prototype of a 5 megawatt floating wind turbine.”
The State of Maine Ocean Energy Task Force has a goal of producing 5,000 megawatts of power from offshore wind farms by the year 2030, a move they say could attract $20 billion in private capital to Maine.
The full body of the U.S. Senate must now approve the final appropriation.
