Maine Adding Wind Farms to Meet Clean Energy Goals

With four utility-scale wind projects already online and another two currently being built, Maine is on track to pass what is viewed as a crucial milestone—of having 200 installed wind turbines—as it moves toward its legislated goal of reaching 2,000 megawatts of wind-power generation by 2015, according to published reports.

Independence Wind, a developer in Brunkswick, Maine, is building a 56-megawatt farm at Record Hill, and Patriot Renewables, a Massachusetts-based developer, owner and operator of grid-sized wind projects, is constructing a 20-megawatt wind farm at Spruce Mountain. The projects, both in western Maine, are expected to be completed by year's end.

The Maine Renewable Energy Association says that once the new facilities are operational, the power produced from all projects will put the state past one-fifth the distance to its wind-power objective.

Maine has long had an environmentally-conscious energy stance. Hydro dams and renewable sources like wind already acount for half of its electricity production, with natural gas-fired plants contributing most of the rest.

The windswept northern New England state leads its neighbors in wind energy development, with a total investment approaching $1 billion, according to a study conducted by the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Service.

New Hampshire has two operating wind farms, with one large project in the works, while Vermont, which has one working facility, and is building two others. For its part, Rhode Island, is developing two offshore wind farms, including the 30-megawatt Deepwater Wind project.