(Maine Dem. Gov.) Baldacci celebrates wind-power bills

[jpak]

http://www.pressherald.com/news/baldacci-celebrates-wind-power-bills_2010-05-12.html

AUGUSTA — Gov. John Baldacci invited members of Maine's energy and construction industries Tuesday to celebrate the passage of five bills that he said will bring Maine closer to energy independence.

<snip>

The university, with federal funding, will build, deploy and test a floating wind turbine to be launched in the spring of 2012 some 2 miles south of Monhegan Island, where it will float in water 400 feet deep for two to three months. It will be the first floating turbine in the United States, Dagher said.

Next, the winner of a competitive bidding process will build a 25-megawatt offshore wind farm, probably starting with a single turbine built and launched by 2014. The Public Utilities Commission will conduct the bidding beginning in September.

the time the small offshore farm is built, Dagher said, 320 new jobs can be expected annually from the new industry, assuming that Maine's marine and manufacturing businesses are able to build everything that goes into the turbines except the generators themselves, which typically are built by GE, Siemens AG, or the Danish company Vestas.

<more>

[ladjf]

1. Good news. thanks for the post. nt

[Scuba]

2. See, not everyone in Maine is crazy.