SUSSEX COUNTY – US Wind, Inc. is one step closer to beginning work on a new Maryland offshore wind project that would include roughly 15 miles of export cables underneath Delaware’s coastal area in Sussex County.
Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) released an order from Secretary Shawn Garvin Monday outlining revocable 20-year permit and authorization approvals for the project, including a permit each for subaqueous land, wetlands and beach preservation coastal construction.
It laid out the details of the work to be completed with the caveat that the approvals can be revoked “at any time during that 20-year period” if it is determined by the secretary that the “proposed project is contrary to the public interest.”
US Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski told the Delaware Business Times called the decision another important step forward and that DRNEC made the decision after a “thorough, science-based review” made by experts and public feedback.
“We are thrilled to have secured these final approvals to move forward on delivering massive amounts of clean energy to the region,” Grybowski told the Delaware Business Times. “Offshore wind will help lower electricity bills for the people of Delaware, satisfy the region’s critical need for more electricity, and improve air quality across the state, all while supporting good local jobs. These projects will be a home run for the people of Delaware for decades to come.”
US Wind’s 114 wind turbine project includes up to four transmission cables with portions of those cables to be located underneath Delaware-regulated wetlands, the Indian River Bay and the Atlantic Ocean within Delaware state waters. The project states that the cables would end in Delaware at the parking lot of 3R’s Beach in Delaware Seashore Park and connect to a proposed substation in Dagsboro.
Coming in at just over 142 acres, the substation land was purchased by Renewable Redevelopment LLC for $20 million last year, a limited liability corporation which shares the same address as US Wind. The property was previously owned by NRG Energy Inc of New Jersey and Indian River Power LLC, according to property records.
Since US Wind proposes that its transmission lines would run underwater for 340,000 linear feet, DNREC approved a subaqueous land permit, as well as a beach preservation coastal construction permit to drill for the cables at the 3R beach parking lot at the Delaware Seashore State Park. US Wind also proposes to temporarily place two 600-foot-long pipes for dredging across tidal wetlands.
The new permit and authorization approvals from DNREC include various conditions based on public comment with 446 formal comments lodged during the comment period between April and September. The approvals also included detailed monitoring and reporting during construction and operations and a compensatory mitigation package with funding “to address potential environmental concerns and public use impacts,” according to the press release from DNREC.
While the extra conditions on the use of the land were “in response to the concerns voiced by the public in this area,” according to the order, it also notes that Delaware has previously issued thousands of fixed-term leases to both individuals and corporate entities for a variety of activities in its underwater or near water areas, each with verbiage noting that such occupancy must be “non-detrimental.”
The 24-page order also includes a decommissioning plan requirement acknowledging future actions “once the Maryland Offshore Wind Project is no longer in operation,” as well as a financial assurance clause in the event that US Wind is unable to handle the decommissioning phase at that point. That plan must be submitted to DNREC for approval prior to any decommissioning activities begin.
Largely stemming from public concerns, additional funding mechanisms are listed in the order. US Wind has also committed to provide funding for more frequent channel marking, along with the removal of marine debris, improvements to regional dock structures and access channel maintenance and support for commercial and recreational shellfish operations, among other financial considerations.
US Wind will also provide an annual contribution for six years to an Aquaculture Startup Grant Fund. Specific funding amounts were not listed in the order.
“It should also be noted that there were a significant number of public comments received by the Department that voiced support of this proposed project,” Garvin stated in the order. “While the supportive comments were given the same weight as any others, the Department’s TRM did not individually address the same, other than to note that such support speaks to the potential need for, and benefits of, this project, and that those comments encouraged the timely issuance of the permits necessitated for this project, provided that the same are appropriately conditioned to minimize any and all potential environmental impacts.”
The DNREC approval comes days after the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued the final permit for the US Wind project, a major landmark for the company as it worked for at least four years to secure permits for the Maryland offshore wind project.
Offshore wind is a controversial topic in southern Delaware and Ocean City, Md., as detractors worry that the sight of the wind farm could impact the tourism industry as well as other negative environmental impacts. Local governments in Ocean City and Fenwick Island have signaled plans to sue the federal agencies involved in the decision. At the same time, the Caesar Rodney Institute, a Delaware-based think-tank filed a complaint against DNREC in Superior Court, challenging the agency’s jurisdiction on the matter.
As Ocean City officials refused to allow US Wind to tap into its electric grid in Maryland, the company turned to Delaware – and now will have to seek approval from the Sussex County Council to do so.
US Wind still needs to secure additional permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Department of the Environment to proceed. Construction is planned for 2026.
