The roundtable touched on goals of the partnership, the programmatic training for technicians and how the three will work together to prepare a shoreside workforce to explore careers offshore. A recorded livestream of the event can be seen at live.mainemaritime.edu.

“A fruitful first step in broadening the scope of Maine’s workforce training,” said Jerry Paul, president of MMA. “Clean energy is forefront in Maine and the maritime industry. MMA is proud to lend its expertise to a cause that will mean more access to jobs for Mainers. We are looking forward to this partnership with the Maine Community College system and Diamond Offshore Wind.”

The event comes on the heels of Northern Maine Community College and MMA receiving nearly $3 million through 2022 and 2023 Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) grants, allowing the institutions to jointly pursue Global Wind Organization (GWO) certification. The CDS grants let the institutions purchase equipment, establish an online directory and hire the faculty required to achieve the GWO standards of training.

“This partnership positions Maine’s workforce to take full advantage of the clean energy future outlined by the State of Maine,” said NMCC President Timothy Crowley. “NMCC started educating and training wind technicians 13 years ago, and the potential energy off of Maine’s coast represents immense opportunity for Mainers who seek an exciting, high-demand career.”

In February, the Governor’s Energy Office issued the Maine Offshore Wind Roadmap, which reflects 18 months of research and is part of an effort to “free Maine from its over-reliance on fossil fuels, to lower energy costs and volatility, and to curb climate-altering emissions to protect our state’s environment for future generations,” as stated in the document’s executive summary. Research shows that offshore wind is an abundant source of clean and renewable energy, and Maine is poised to be a leader in the field.

DOW is the state’s development partner on the Maine Research Array, a 10-turbine offshore wind project that will be located approximately 45 miles southeast of Portland. The research array will use VolturnUS semisubmersible technology developed by the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center. The small-scale research array is designed to create a set of real-world tested practices and standards to encourage responsible offshore wind development and inform future offshore wind projects. DOW is also developing the single-turbine demonstration project near Monhegan Island, which will also use the VolturnUS technology.

“Offshore wind will create jobs and a new industry for Maine,” said Chris Wissemann, CEO of Diamond Offshore Wind. “We are pleased to be partnering with Maine Maritime Academy and Northern Maine Community College to support training that will provide Mainers with skills that will be in demand for decades to come. Our goal is to provide a way for Mainers to get good paying jobs in clean energy and add a new chapter to the state’s maritime history.”

News item from Northern Maine Community College

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Credit: Northstar Marine Service

With more than 12,000 total installed horsepower and 120 MT bollard pull, or towing power, the Northstar Navigator is a vessel suited to support the offshore wind industry. It can provide a range of services, including anchor handling, towing, a precision lightweight GPS receiver, bubble curtains and survey support.

The Northstar Responder will be used for offshore wind survey and support. Outfitted with a helicopter deck and bow thruster, the Responder has a maximum transit speed of 12 knots and berthing for 38 personnel with emergency medical capabilities.

“We are excited to announce the acquisition of both the Northstar Navigator and Northstar Responder and to be expanding our fleet to meet the growing demand for vessels of this size,” said Philip Risko, president of Northstar Marine. “This acquisition will allow us to provide our customers with even greater support and capacity for their offshore projects.”

Northstar Marine is positioning itself to meet the growing demand in the Northeast Atlantic for marine services.

News item from NORTHSTAR MARINE SERVICES

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Credit: Siemens Energy

It’s the first offshore wind project in the United States to use HVDC technology. The approximately 924-MW wind farm is developed by a joint venture between Danish clean energy company Ørsted and U.S.-based energy provider Eversource.

Located about 30 miles east of Long Island, Sunrise Wind will supply green energy to nearly 600,000 homes in New York State and support the state’s goal to meet its 100% clean electricity by 2040 goal.

“To date, we have connected the offshore grid to the mainland 21 times, bringing more than 12 GW of wind power to households in Europe. The fact that we are now able to proceed with our very first offshore HVDC grid connection project in the United States makes us proud,” said Tim Holt, member of the executive board at Siemens Energy. “Carbon-neutrality goals will not be met without wide-scale deployment of renewable energy projects like Sunrise Wind. There will be many more wind projects like this in the U.S. and we are happy to do our part to help provide the country with sustainable power.”

Siemens Energy will deliver the HVDC system on a turnkey basis and provide onshore civil work in partnership with local companies. The HVDC system will enable low-loss transport of green energy from the wind farm to the mainland. It consists of two converter stations: The offshore converter station will collect the 66 kV_AC power generated by the wind turbines through an inter-array cable system and transform it to 320 kV_DC for transmission through a 160 kM export cable to the onshore converter station, located at Holbrook on Long Island.

The onshore station will convert the power back to AC to feed it into the distribution grid, which will bring the energy to homes, industry and other end-users in New York. Aker Solutions is responsible for the platform consisting of a steel jacket substructure and a topside platform deck housing the electrical equipment.

Sunrise Wind will support the establishment of an offshore wind supply chain in New York State. The onshore installation of the project’s converter station will be carried out by local companies. The final deliveries are scheduled for the second half of 2025.

Siemens Energy has over 10,000 employees working in 84 locations throughout the United States, driving the energy transition with a portfolio of products, solutions and services that covers almost the entire energy value chain — from power generation and transmission to storage that includes both conventional and renewable energy technology.

News item from Siemens Energy

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