The Maine Research Array
Power to
Maine People
We're advancing a future where Maine is powered with clean renewable energy from local wind resources using homegrown Maine technology and harnessing the talent and ingenuity of Maine people. Innovation leads the way. Collaboration makes it possible.
The Maine
Research Array
The Maine Research Array is the historic result of nearly fifteen years of research, planning, scientific study, and open dialogue between the State of Maine, University of Maine, renewable energy experts, local communities, and leaders from Maine’s labor, business, fishing, and marine industries. It started with a three-part question: how can we stabilize energy costs for Maine people, reduce our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels, and do it in a way that drives a local economic engine?
The answer:
Floating
Offshore Wind
Innovation
Patented offshore wind technology pioneered by the University of Maine has the power to turn the world-class winds in the Gulf of Maine into renewable energy for Maine homes, businesses, and schools. This technology can be built here in Maine, which in turn builds a new marine industry and helps rebuild Maine’s once-thriving manufacturing sector.
Collaboration
The site for the Maine Research Array was selected through a multi-year public process with hundreds of hours of meetings, work sessions, and one-on-one conversations with experts, officials, and stakeholders from fishing and marine industries. This careful consideration led to a small site—just .04% of the entire Gulf of Maine!—with minimal lobster fishing and minimal overlap with other marine activity.
Climate Action
Maine people spend nearly $4.4 billion annually to import fossil fuels—we’re the most heating oil dependent state in the country. By harnessing the powerful offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine, we can help slow the warming of the Gulf of Maine, meet our important clean energy goals, and keep our energy dollars in the state.
Best Practices
The small-scale Research Array is designed to create a set of real-world tested best practices and standards that can foster responsible offshore wind development and inform future offshore wind projects in the U.S. and beyond. Through Maine expertise, our scientists, researchers, and fishing industry leaders can play a pivotal role in guiding a clean energy revolution that’s respectful of legacy industries and traditional ocean users.