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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 or the equivalent put out by 30,000 cars, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Wind power also uses next to no water. Better technology and environmental gains have helped sway public opinion overwhelmingly in favor of wind as a safe, clean way to boost energy inde- pendence and protect the environment. Support is highest in areas with success- fully operating wind farms. "Proximity to the project actually increased support," notes the MREA's Payne. "People have started to under- stand that when they host these projects, they are likely to economically benefi t." On a macro level, the wind indus- try supported up to 2,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state in 2016, attracted $1.8 billion in capital invest- ment through 2016 and up to $5 mil- lion in annual lease payments. Indirect jobs include consultants, public aff airs fi rms and lawyers like Juliet Browne, a partner with Verrill Dana LLP in Portland who has advised several developers on permitting. "For a period of time that was the lion's share of my work," she says. "It's defi nitely slowed down." Jeff rey aler, a visiting profes- sor at the University of Maine and assistant counsel to the univer- sity on environmental, energy and sustainability projects, attributes the slowing momentum to one main fac- tor: "Right now in Maine, there are fewer onshore development projects underway, primarily due to con- cerns about how one can get projects approved and built when compared with other states." Maine has an aspirational goal of achieving 3,000 MW of wind capacity by 2020 and 8,000 MW by 2030, created by the Legislature during the Baldacci administration. Should it achieve those milestones, the state stands to gain up to $5 billion in new investments, more than $25 million a year in property tax pay- ments, and $6 million-plus in direct pay- ments to local landowners, the Natural Resources Council of Maine estimates. Ocean of opportunities e slow but steady stream of new proj- ects is a drop in the bucket compared to the untapped off shore potential in the Gulf of Maine, which U.S. Sen. Angus King once called "the Saudi Arabia of wind." In Maine, off shore wind represents the state's largest untapped natural resource, with more than 156 GW or 156,000 MW of potential waiting to be harnessed, according to the University of Maine. It notes that the Gulf of Maine boasts a higher quality off shore wind resource than most parts of the United States, and is also close to New England population centers with high electrical demand. ree years after Statoil was spooked away, Maine's off shore hopes rest with New England Aqua Ventus, a 12 MW fl oating turbine project led by UMaine with $10.7 million so far in federal fund- ing. UMaine's aler said the project is on track to be built by the end of 2019, though that could slip to 2020. As the clock ticks towards those deadlines, UMaine researchers com- pleted successful tests at an ocean simu- lator basin in Orono that can simulate a Category 5 hurricane, and will spend the next year working on fi nal engineer- ing and construction drawings, permit applications, and fi nancing. " e advantage of fl oating technology is that you can put it 20 miles off shore," says Habib Dagher, the project's principal investigator and executive director of UMaine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center. "As you get farther from shore, the wind speed gets better, and the Gulf of Maine has the best resource of the East Coast." R C , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t @ . a n d @ P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A I N E THERE IS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE A DIFFERENCE THERE IS Because Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Sheridan Sheridan Construction Construction www.sheridancorp.com www.sheridancorp.com Fairfield Fairfield Portland 207-453-9311 207-453-9311 207-774-6138 F O C U S The Gulf of Maine has The Gulf of Maine has The Gulf of Maine has The Gulf of Maine has The Gulf of Maine has The Gulf of Maine has The Gulf of Maine has The Gulf of Maine has The Gulf of Maine has the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the the best resource of the East Coast. — Habib Dagher Executive Director of the UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center Habib Dagher (left) and Anthony Viselli of the University of Maine inside the wind generator component of UMaine's ocean simulator. Viselli is the manager of the Alfond W2 wind-wave simulation basin.

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