Photo: Jeff Kirlin
Typically, modern offshore wind turbines come in only one size and shape – really big, rising up from the ocean floor. The University of Maine, with support from the Department of Energy, has just launched a new test design, the first grid-connected floating wind tower. The tower, launched in Brewer, Me., is supported by three hollow concrete tube floats and will be anchored in the Gulf of Maine. VolturnUS 1:8, which sounds like something from a bad science fiction novel, is only 20 kw in capacity but, should it succeed, the design should be scalable up to much larger installations. Using a floating rather than a fixed platform would allow wind turbines to be installed in much deeper water on the West Coast of the US and along the Maine Coast.