Maine Offshore Wind Research Consortium

As part of Maine’s commitment to responsible offshore wind, Governor Mills established the Maine Offshore Wind Research Consortium in 2021 with bipartisan support to better understand the local and regional impacts of floating offshore wind power projects in the Gulf of Maine.

A 2023 update to that legislation (LD 1895) directs the Governor’s Energy Office (now DOER) to serve as the Consortium’s coordinating agency alongside the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and the Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife (DIFW). The statute establishes an Advisory Board with representation from commercial and recreational fisheries, marine wildlife and habitats expertise, commercial offshore wind development expertise, and state agencies. Maine-based environmental NGOs, community representatives, and scientists from public and private research institutions are also represented to ensure a broad stakeholder perspective.

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 Consortium’s Research Strategy, a document that will be updated regularly, can be found here.

The Maine Offshore Wind Research Consortium collaborates 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 Collaborative, of which the Maine Department of Energy Resources is a member. For more information on the Research Consortium, please contact Stephanie Watson: Stephanie.Watson@maine.gov.

Ongoing Projects

Seafloor Mapping

The Advisory Board Steering Committee decided the most cost-effective approach to collecting high priority seafloor data is to leverage the existing resources of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and provide collaborative research opportunities with Maine fishermen through the Maine Coastal Mapping Initiative (MCMI). This project will map approximately 840 square nautical miles of seafloor in poorly mapped areas in the general area east of Cashes Ledge and south of Jeffreys Bank. Multibeam echosounder (MBES) sonar systems will be used to create seafloor maps that will aid in classifying marine habitats and understanding and minimizing the potential impacts of offshore wind development. The project will involve contracting two commercial fishing vessels, creating seven temporary/seasonal positions, and purchasing a new sonar system. The results of this project will be made available to the public.

For more information, please contact Jesse Minor at DMR: jesse.minor@maine.gov.

View project overview slides here.

Social, Cultural, and Economic Baseline Impacts

This study will establish a baseline assessment of potential social, economic, and cultural impacts of floating offshore wind development on Maine’s fishing communities. This project is built on the previous Socioeconomic Baseline Inventory project also funded by the Research Consortium. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute is leading this study in partnership with researchers from the University of Maine and the University of Rhode Island. The project kicked off in fall 2025.