DeepCwind Consortium

The DeepCwind Consortium is a national consortium of universities, nonprofits, utilities, and industry leaders. The mission of the consortium is to establish the State of Maine as a national leader in floating offshore wind technology. Much of the consortium's work and resulting research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundations, and others.

The efforts of the DeepCwind Consortium culminated in the University of Maine patent-pending VolturnUS, a floating concrete hull technology can support wind turbines in water depths of 45 meters or more, and has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind.

The DeepCwind Consortium was initially funded in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) through the U.S. Department of Energy. The University of Maine received $7.1 million to found the consortium and design and deploy floating offshore turbine prototypes. As part of this funding, the research plan included: "optimization of designs for floating platforms by evaluating options for using more durable, lighter, hybrid composite materials, manufacturability, and deployment logistics."

Floating deepwater wind farms placed ten or more nautical miles (nmi) offshore can play a critical role in reaching the Department of Energy’s 20% windpower goal by 2030. Deepwater offshore wind is the dominant U.S. ocean energy resource, representing a potential of nearly 3,100 TW-h/year. It also:

With these qualities in mind, Maine plans to construct a 5 GW, $20 billion network of floating offshore wind farms to contribute to the northeast U.S. renewable energy needs. Maine has the deepest waters near its shores, approximately 200 ft deep at 3 nmi, and 89% of Maine’s 156 GW offshore wind resource is in deep waters. The state also offers extensive maritime industry infrastructure and proximity to one of the largest energy markets in the country.

The DeepCwind Consortium published the Maine Offshore Wind Report in February 2011. The report "examines economics and policy, electrical grid integration, wind and wave, bathymetric, soil, and environmental research. It also includes summaries of assembly and construction sites, critical issues for project development and permitting, and an analysis of the implications of the Jones Act."

In June 2013, the consortium deployed the 20 kWVolturnUS 1:8, a 65-foot-tall floating turbine prototype that is 1:8th the scale of a 6-megawatt (MW), 450-foot rotor diameter design. VolturnUS 1:8 was the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine in the Americas.

...
Wikipedia