The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center has unveiled VolturnUS, the first grid-connected floating offshore wind turbine to be deployed off the coast of the United States. The approximately 65-foot-tall turbine prototype is 1:8th the scale of a six-megawatt (MW), 423-foot rotor diameter design. It’s the first floating turbine of its kind in the world, using advanced material systems with a unique floating hull and tower design. The VolturnUS technology is the culmination of more than five years of collaborative research and development conducted by the UMaine-led DeepCwind Consortium. The program’s goal is to reduce the cost of offshore wind to compete with other forms of electricity generation without subsidies. Maine has 156 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity within 50 miles of its shores, with a plan to deploy 5 GW of offshore wind by 2030. The 5 GW plan could potentially attract $20 billion of private investment to the state, creating thousands of jobs.

The UMaine Composites Center
www.umaine.edu