The US Department of Energy recently awarded US$8 million to the University of Maine for this programme to research offshore, deepwater wind energy.
The consortium’s research and development plan will optimise materials and designs for deepwater floating platforms. The group will investigate options for using lighter, corrosion-resistant hybrid composite materials, evaluate the ease of manufacturing various turbine components, and explore how best to deploy such platforms.
Ashland Performance Materials, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc (NYSE: ASH), manufactures unsaturated polyester and vinyl ester resins.
“We are looking forward to this collaborative effort," says Ruben Bake, global marketing director of Ashland Performance Materials. "As the sole resin supplier to this project, we were pleased to have our efforts in resin science and development recognised by the University of Maine.”