The 1:8-scale model of theVolturnUS will be installed in 24-metres of water off Maine this month to gatherdata to de-risk the concept, with a view to building a $96m deepwater pilotfarm made up of a pair of 6MW models by 2016.

The VolturnUS, which has been in development at the university’s Advanced Structures& Composites Centre for the last five years, isbased on a concrete and composite semi-submersible platform mated to a turbinewith a 129-metre-diameter rotor.

DeepCwind – a public-privatepartnership between the National Science Foundation-Partners for Innovation,the Maine Technology Institute, the state of Maine, the University of Maine andmore than 30 industry partners – won a $4m Department of Energy grant last yearto complete engineering on the project.

Maine