As part of Maine’s commitment to responsible offshore wind, Governor Janet Mills wth bipartisan support the Legislature established the Maine Offshore Wind Research Consortium to better understand the local and regional impacts of floating offshore wind power projects in the Gulf of Maine.
The statute directs the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) to serve as the coordinating agency and outlines an Advisory Board with representation from fisheries interests, and the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and including other state agencies and stakeholders.
The Advisory Board is responsible for establishing a research strategy that at a minimum includes the following themes:
- Opportunities and challenges caused by the deployment of floating offshore wind projects to the existing uses of the Gulf of Maine;
- Methods to avoid and minimize the impact of floating offshore wind projects on ecosystems and existing uses of the Gulf of Maine; and
- Ways to realize cost efficiencies in the commercialization of floating offshore wind projects.
The Maine Offshore Wind Consortium will collaborate closely with other states and regional and national science and research partners, including the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, and the Regional Wildlife Science Consortium, of which the Governor’s Energy Office is a member.
GEO has appointed the initial Advisory Board and Steering Committee for the Research Consortium. The Advisory Board and Steering Committee will identify preliminary research areas and questions in the first quarter of 2023, with an intent to publish a Request for Proposals for research projects in mid-2023.
For more information, contact Stephanie Watson, Offshore Wind Program Manager, at Stephanie.Watson@maine.gov.
Research Consortium Advisory Board and Steering Committee
- Advisory Board Members
-
Commercial and recreational harvesting interests
- Patrice McCarron, Maine Lobstermen’s Association
- Jack Cunningham, Maine Lobster Union
- Ben Martens, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association
- Terry Alexander, F/V Jocka
- Mary Beth Tooley, O’Hara Corp
- Chris Weiner, F/V Elizabeth Ames, American Bluefin Tuna Association
- Bob Humphrey, Sport-Ventures
Scientists from private and public research institutions
- Alison Bates, Colby College
- Damian Brady, University of Maine
- Wing Goodale, Biodiversity Research Institute
- Nick Record, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
- Graham Sherwood, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
- Sean Todd, College of the Atlantic
- Anthony Viselli, University of Maine
- Gayle Zydlewski, Maine Sea Grant
Offshore wind industry experience
- Dave Cowan, Diamond Offshore Wind
- Wojciech Wiechowski, RWE
- Laura Morse, Mainstream
Coastal community representatives
- Bill Needelman, Portland Waterfront Coordinator
- TBD
Maine-based environmental groups
- Jocelyn Runnebaum, The Nature Conservancy Maine
- Sarah Haggerty, Maine Audubon
State agencies
- Carl Wilson, Department of Marine Resources
- John Perry, Inland Fish and Wildlife
- Stephanie Watson, Governor’s Energy Office
At-large
- Daniel Salerno, Fisheries Scientist, Limington, Maine
- Steering Committee Members
-
- Carl Wilson, Department of Marine Resources
- John Perry, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
- Stephanie Watson, Governor’s Energy Office
- TBD: Two elected members (one fisheries, and one non-fisheries) from the Advisory Board.
- TBD: One at-large, non-affiliated member designated by GEO.