Maryland Offshore Wind Projects Receive Final BOEM Approval
Article from Maritime Executive
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its approval of the Construction and Operations Plan for the Maryland Offshore Wind project. This is the final approval needed from BOEM for the project which has also received approvals from Maryland and recently the National Marine Fisheries Service.
“This project will power over 718,000 homes and support almost 2,680 jobs annually over seven years,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. The bureau noted that it is the approval of the nation’s tenth commercial-scale offshore wind energy project.
The Maryland Offshore Wind Project comprises a lease area located approximately 8.7 nautical miles offshore of Maryland and approximately 9 nautical miles from Delaware. U.S. Wind, a partnership between Italy’s Renexia and American investment firm Apollo Global Management, won its lease for nearly 47,000 acres in August 2014.
“After more than four years of rigorous and robust analysis, we are thrilled to have secured this final BOEM approval,” said Jeff Grybowski, CEO of US Wind CEO. “US Wind’s projects will produce massive amounts of homegrown energy and will help satisfy the region’s critical need for more electricity, all while supporting good local jobs.”
The Department of the Interior issued its Record of Decision for the projects in September 2024 clearing the way for today’s approval of the Construction and Operations Plan. The approved project includes the multiple-phase construction and operation of up to 114 wind turbine generators, up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower, and up to four offshore export cable corridors. Two phases, known as MarWin (which was proposed as 300 MW with 22 turbines) and Momentum Wind (proposed for 800 MW with up to 55 turbines), are moving forward while the company has proposed a third phase. The first two projects also have offshore renewable energy certificates from the State of Maryland.
US Wind in July 2024 applied with Maryland to increase the total capacity of the company’s offshore wind portfolio by more than 600 MW, for a total of 1,710 MW. In total, US Wind’s application sought the authority to sell just under 7 million megawatt hours of offshore wind energy to Maryland annually, supporting the 1,710 MW build-out of the company’s entire federal lease area, with 840 MW proposed for OREC Round 1 and 870 MW proposed for OREC Round 2. US Wind said it would provide a critical foundation for Maryland to achieve its 8.5 GW goal.
The company has also committed to establishing Maryland’s first offshore wind factory – Sparrows Point Steel – in Baltimore County and facilitates the development of Maryland’s first offshore wind cable manufacturing facility in Baltimore City, Hellenic Cables.
It would be Maryland’s first offshore wind energy projects. The state also approved two phases for Ørsted’s Skipjack Wind project that would have provided 966 MW. The company however in January 2024 withdrew its agreements saying, the proposed two-phase project was “no longer commercially viable because of today’s challenging market conditions, including inflation, high interest rates, and supply chain constraints.” Ørsted said it would reposition Skipjack Wind and in the future seek new state and federal approvals.