A massive, 5GW wind farm could be built off the coast of Maine and be fully operational in 10 years if a think tank of energy advisors get their way.

This post from earth2tech.com says the Ocean Energy Institute’s proposal to build five 9.2-square-mile offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Maine could be a boon for the local construction industry and the national energy picture:

Dubbing the plan a “Manhattan Project for Maine,” the Ocean Energy Institute says it could create some 20,000-30,000 jobs. The group on its web site also lays out a larger plan to get the U.S. off of fossil fuels, which the group calls the “Pickens Plan Plus” or the “Simmons Plan’ — use wind farms to power the grid, but add in the large amounts of offshore wind around the U.S.

The Ocean Energy Institute is run by energy investment banker and energy adviser to President George W. Bush, Matthew Simmons, and physicist George Hart. They believe off-shore wind farms offer a greater potential in wind energy that so onshore projects, and the Gulf of Maine is supposed to be one of the windiest areas in the world.

The biggest issues these days seem to be how to finance a project this big and the NIMBY – “Not In My Back Yard” – attitude too many communities currently have.