Offshore Wind Webinars

Offshore Wind Roadmap – Advisory Committee

The first meeting of the Maine Offshore Wind Roadmap Advisory Committee will be held on Wednesday, July 14th from 9 am to noon. It will be open to the public; you can register here. The full meeting will be recorded and posted on GEO’s website.

The state is developing the U.S. Economic Development-funded Maine Offshore Wind Roadmap: Charting a Course for Maine to advance the offshore wind industry in Maine through the development of a comprehensive industry “Roadmap”.  Work on the Roadmap will be supported by expert working groups focusing on energy, ports, workforce, marine transportation, supply chains, fisheries, and wildlife. The Roadmap is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 and future meetings of the Advisory Committee and working groups will be posted on GEO’s website and are open to the public.   

Research Array – Work Session

The State will host the Joint Fisheries/Wildlife Work Session on the proposed floating offshore wind research array in the Gulf of Maine on Tuesday, July 13th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The meeting is open to the public and you can register here.The full meeting will be recorded and posted on GEO’s website.

Since late last year, the Governor’s Energy Office, with support from IFW and DMR, have held a number of public sessions about fisheries and wildlife considerations, which have been invaluable in informing the approach to ensure the array is responsibly sited where the impact on fishing and wildlife is minimized. In this session, which is the last currently scheduled for the research array, we will review the discovery and dialogue we’ve had regarding fisheries, wildlife, and other siting considerations in the proposed area for the research array and share the preferred site.

In advance of the meeting, GEO will post information on our website that provides a summary of this work and outlines the preferred site that is approximately 16 square miles and well off Maine’s coast. GEO will accept feedback on the preferred site before finalizing the site for purposes of the federal lease application.

Understanding the Wildlife and Marine Impacts of Offshore Wind
July 30, 2021 

Offshore wind energy is rapidly becoming a near-term climate solution throughout the northeast. However, this has generated concerns about how wind energy will affect wildlife and the marine ecosystem. Join Dr. Damian Brady, Agatha B. Darling Associate Professor of Oceanography at the University of Maine at Orono, to learn about how scientists at the University of Maine are and will be researching the impacts of offshore wind on wildlife and the marine ecosystem.

https://www.maineconservation.org/lunchnlearn