A 16-square-mile area located about 30 miles off the coast of Maine has been identified by officials in the state as the preferred site for an offshore wind farm that would be the first floating offshore wind research area in the US.

The State of Maine Governor’s Energy Office website says the state plans to move forward with a research array as a “prudent step to take before commercial scale floating offshore wind development occurs in the Gulf of Maine.”

The state’s research, undertaken with the University of Maine and New England Aqua Ventus, will provide information about potential impacts of floating offshore wind.

The November 2020 release from Governor Janet Mills’ office announcing the plan to create the research array noted that the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Maine has “some of the highest sustained wind speeds in the world.”

The site-selection announcement was made on July 12. The Governor’s Energy Office invites comments on the site through July 30 to inform its final siting decision, which will be included in the federal lease application for the research array.