SUSSEX COUNTY — Federal regulators have approved plans for a Maryland offshore wind farm this week that would be miles from Bethany Beach, removing the final step for a project that was proposed more than seven years ago.
The U.S. Department of the Interior Thursday approved U.S. Wind’s plan for 114 wind turbines that would generate more than 2 gigawatts of clean energy. The wind farm is slated for federal wind lease areas that were created through Maryland legislation back in 2013. Those lease areas are also close to Delaware’s beaches, sparking public debate over its potential for the First State.
US Wind Inc., a Baltimore-based subsidy of Italian renewable energy development company Renexia Spa, has proposed to connect transmission lines through a future substation to be built next to the Indian River Power Plant in Dagsboro. Some of the transmission cables needed for a successful project are planned for installation on 3Rs Beach.
“Today’s decision balances the orderly development of OCS renewable energy with the prevention of interference with other uses of the OCS and the protection of the human, marine, and coastal environments,” Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Land and Minerals Management Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Steven H. Feldgus wrote in the official federal Record of Decision approving the project.
Prior to this week’s federal approval, negotiations between the First State and US Wind began late last year when Governor John Carney directed state officials to begin the process on Dec. 19 by signing a non-binding term sheet with US Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. Since Delaware has no authority on the project that is in federal waters – and with its renewable energy credits going to Maryland – the only role the state can play is what projects US Wind has planned on its land.
Since then, both the BOEM and DNREC held public meetings which generated a mixed-bag of feedback on the potential of new wind farms in Sussex County. According to DNREC, the public record for the permits associated with the US Wind Project is open for comments through Monday, Sept. 9.
Meanwhile, Carney has spent the final weeks in office moving the needle on green energy initiatives, including setting the table for the next governor to tap more in offshore wind. Last year, he signed the Climate Change Solutions Act this year, which set Delaware on the ambitious goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and just this week, he signed Senate Bill 265, which opens the door for Delaware to start the procurement process to buy energy created from wind farms.
“Decisions like this one support the goal of increasing clean energy alternatives for the region, which are necessary to combat climate change. This U.S. Department of the Interior decision is a major step in the federal permit, but the state DNREC permitting process associated with the onshore cable is still ongoing, and will take into account the extensive public comment process that occurred this summer,” Carney told the Delaware Business Times in a prepared statement.
Now dubbed the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, the wind farm could generate enough energy to power 718,000 homes on the Delmarva Peninsula and generate almost 2,680 jobs annually over seven years for which newer workforce development opportunities may be needed to handle the demand.
“Developing new sources of energy, including offshore wind projects, creates good-paying jobs for people who live and work in Delaware. Associated with the US Wind project is a community benefit commitment that includes millions of dollars for workforce training, preparing Delawareans to work in the clean energy jobs this new industry will create and need. Also included in that agreement is funding for coastal area dredging as well as resiliency projects at state parks,” Carney added in his statement to DBT.
In all, the plan has three phases which include 114 turbines that would be 9 nautical miles from Sussex County. It also includes up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower and up to four offshore export cable corridors, according to the Department of the Interior.
While this is the first project to receive final approval from federal regulators, there is a second federal wind lease area off the coast of Maryland and Delaware preparing for future projects. That area was claimed by Danish wind turbine developer Ørsted in 2018, but those plans were scrapped as they were no longer commercially viable.
Equinor, a Norwegian-based energy company, recently won a provisional wind energy lease bid in a nearby location for another wind farm in a BOEM auction, allowing the Delmarva area to continue its pursuit of a net-zero emissions goal while creating competition in the wind energy market.
