SALEM — There could be large wind turbines in the waters off the North Shore in the not-too-distant future, according to an ocean management plan released this week by the state.
The plan identifies a potential, long-range site off Marblehead for commercial turbines and makes provisions for community-scale wind projects along the region's entire coastline.
This plan does not address the controversial Cape Wind project, which is targeted for federal waters.
None of this is going to happen tomorrow, state and local officials stress, but the release of the ocean management plan, which focuses on protecting sensitive fishing areas and other natural resources, at least begins the conversation about putting wind turbines in the water.
"At least now there are some very good frameworks so that people can start thinking about how to move forward on potential development," said Cindy Keegan, chairwoman of the Salem Renewable Energy Task Force.
Last week, Salem erected a 164-foot tower on Winter Island to test wind speeds in the hope that a much taller wind turbine can be erected on the recreational area. A large wind turbine, city officials say, has the potential to offset up to $500,000 in municipal energy costs.
Although nobody in Salem has proposed putting a turbine out in the ocean, or on any of the city's offshore islands, those possibilities have been discussed among environmentalists, and those talks could become more public in the coming months.
"We're starting that first peek," Keegan said.
The subject of erecting wind turbines in the ocean, of course, is a complicated and sensitive one. Even staunch environmentalists who have fought to close the coal- and oil-fired Salem Harbor Station power plant can't give an unequivocal endorsement.
"We would support offshore wind," said Jane Bright of HealthLink, a North Shore environmental group, "provided that there were not major problems with it, such as major disruption to the fishing community, and that it made economic sense."
The state plan designated two priority commercial wind energy areas off Martha's Vineyard and Cuttyhunk, and three "provisional sites," including one a few miles off Marblehead.
The North Shore commercial site passed an initial screening by the state but did not get a higher designation because of technical limitations, a state official said.
The North Shore location "is in very deep water and right now the technology simply doesn't exist," said Deerin Babb-Brott, an assistant secretary with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. "Down the road, such technology may come on line and could be available for implementation."
What may be more realistic, in the short term, are the community-scale wind projects that will be allowed within different designated regions in the state. In the Metropolitan Area Planning Council area, which includes part of the North Shore, the state has allocated 22 turbines for possible approvals. To go forward, a project would need local support by selectmen, city councilors and other officials, and would have to undergo mandatory reviews.
Although there are no current proposals for water-based turbines on the North Shore, the state plan at least establishes a framework for taking the first step, officials said.
"This opens up most of the Massachusetts ocean water, everywhere except around Cape Cod, to the potential for renewable energy, and that's really exciting," said Priscilla Brooks of the Conservation Law Foundation, one of the state's leading environmental advocacy groups.
"We're happy to see the state making progress in considering how they're going to handle offshore development," Keegan said, "so it's not the black hole that Cape Wind walked into."
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