The Trump administration has suspended a $12.5 million award for University of Maine’s floating offshore wind program.
The funding interruption leaves a partially constructed test array docked on the coast in limbo.
In an April 11 letter, the U.S. Department of Energy alleged that Maine failed to comply with the terms of the award for a quarter-scale demonstration of offshore turbines it is developing. It did not cite any specific violation by the university.
The department is "suspending all activity under this award" for 90 days, a timeline that could be cut short or extended, according to the letter.
"No costs incurred during the suspension period will be allowable," the department said. The department did not respond to a request for comment.
The university's advanced composites and structures center won the competitive grant last year to continue work on its VolturnUS floating turbines. The state has ambitions to deploy floating turbines in the Gulf of Maine to take advantage of power generation there.
Spokesperson Samantha Warren said the university received the letter just hours after a 375-ton floating concrete hull for the array was towed into Searsport, where it is now docked.
Over the next six weeks, the hull was supposed to be outfitted with a tower, turbine and blades before it was anchored offshore near Castine in May.
The project is supporting dozens of local jobs, including contractors from a Westbrook construction company, Warren said.
The array is meant to collect real-time data on how its technology reduces motions from natural wind and waves, according to the university.
The university is not aware of any previous investigation into its compliance with the award, Warren added.
"The university is currently assessing the federal notice, which states that the suspension period may not exceed 90 calendar days, and the next steps for the project and related Maine contracts and jobs," Warren said in a statement.
The University of Maine has had different pools of federal aid suspended, cut and reinstated since February, after Governor Janet Mills rebuffed President Trump for demanding the state disregard state law on transgender athletes.
Two other Department of Energy Grants were suspended on the same day the turbine funding was paused, according to Warren.
"The University of Maine System maintains it is compliant with all state and federal laws, and the conditions of its federal grants and contracts, a number of which have been recently terminated or suspended," Warren said.
