Though an actual offshore wind project is still years away from becoming a reality, a group of New Hampshire senators is urging the state to start looking toward the future now, potentially through the creation of an offshore wind workforce training center, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported.

Passed in the state Senate last month by a voice vote, Senate Bill 152 would create a committee tasked with exploring the workforce needs of a Gulf of Maine offshore wind industry, including the possibility of a training center conveniently located near the Port of Portsmouth.

The committee would also make a plan for including Seacoast-area career and technical education centers, Great Bay Community College, and union apprenticeship and training programs.

The prime sponsor of the bill, Sen. David Watters, a Dover Democrat, introduced it in the context of New Hampshire’s critical workforce shortage. A workforce training center, he said, would service and bolster a Gulf of Maine project.

The Gulf of Maine could see up to 12 floating wind turbines generating up to 144 megawatts of renewable energy, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has said, and the proposed area is located approximately 37 miles off the coast of New Castle. A series of public meetings held in January, including one in Portsmouth, updated on the progress.