Statoil abandons 12-MW wind project off Maine

Oct 17, 2013 - Norwegian oil major Statoil ASA (OSL:STL) said on Tuesday it would withdraw its proposal to build a 12-MW offshore wind park in Maine and instead focus on a similar project in Scotland.

The company explained that regulatory issues and scheduling delays “made the project outlook too uncertain to proceed.” Instead, it will focus on another offshore wind project in Scotland on which it has been working on in the past three years. Still the oil group will continue to explore opportunities on the US offshore wind market.

The Hywind Maine wind scheme, calling for an investment of USD 120 million (EUR 88m), involved the installation of four turbines off the coast of Maine. Statoil launched the proposal in 2011, in response to a Request for Proposals (RfP) of the Maine Public Utilities Commission. However, it postponed the development of the scheme in July 2013 when the state reopened the RfP to let a University of Maine-led group participate in the bidding process. Maine governor Paul LePage opposed Statoil’s plan on grounds that it was too expensive and would burden taxpayers.

The two projects -- the one by Statoil and the one by the university -- were in a contest to get a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the state and USD 47 million in funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE).

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.737)

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