BETHANY BEACH — U.S. Wind has secured one of the final federal permits required to start work on an offshore wind farm, but if the company is looking to bring its transmission lines ashore to Delaware, it still needs approval from Delaware agencies.
U.S. Wind representatives announced Tuesday that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued the permit for the company’s construction and operation plan, which is the last step in the federal approval process. About a decade ago, U.S. Wind was one of two companies that won two offshore wind leases that were created by Maryland lawmakers.
The wind lease area U.S. Wind is looking to develop the closet turbine 17 miles from Bethany Beach and 15 miles from Ocean City, Md. Construction is targeted for 2026.
“Today marks the culmination of years of comprehensive environmental analysis on US Wind’s proposed projects,” U.S. Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski said in a prepared statement. “BOEM’s Record of Decision brings us another step closer to securing final approvals later this year and getting steel in the water. We’re eager to advance Maryland’s offshore wind goals and support good jobs in the region for decades to come.”
The project has garnered vocal critics both in Maryland and Delaware, and the Ocean City Council and Mayor have announced it will sue federal agencies over the decision and Fenwick Island officials voted this summer to join the potential lawsuit. In October, the Caesar Rodney Institute, a Delaware-based think-tank filed a complaint against DNREC in Superior Court.
While the project is targeted to benefit Maryland as the 114 wind turbines would produce 2 gigawatts of electricity and Maryland would receive the renewable energy credits, Delaware could also play a key role in its development. U.S. Wind is seeking to bring the transmission lines ashore in Delaware and connect to either new or an existing substation in Delaware.
Previous plans show that the transmission lines would make landfall at Rs Beach parking lot in Delaware Seashore State Park, and would then be embedded in the seabed in the Indian River Bay and come ashore to the Indian River Substation in Dagsboro.
U.S. Wind would still need four permits from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control as well as additional permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Department of the Environment.
Gov. John Carney opened negotiations with the U.S. Wind last December on a possible community benefits package for the First State in exchange for the offshore wind developer to bring its transmission lines ashore and use the Indian River Substation in Dagsboro.
U.S. Wind Vice President of External Affairs Nancy Sopko told the Delaware Business Times that the milestone also signaled the developer was one step closer to “delivering benefits for Delaware,” including $200 million in infrastructure investments as well as 150,00 renewable credits as well as $40 million in community investments.
The initial term sheet indicated that U.S. Wind would pay an annual lease of $350,000, with 3% annual increases, for the cable landing.
Carney, who is now transitioning out of his role as governor and preparing to be sworn in as Wilmington’s 58th mayor, had long explored Delaware’s role in the offshore wind industry since 2018, when the first working group he assembled recommended no action. But now with Delaware committed to attempt to hit an ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2025, the wind has been changing.
A new study released earlier this year recommended that Delaware should buy into wind energy, and a new law directed the state to work with at least one energy purchaser to do so.
“While there are a few more steps at the state level, I am pleased to see US Wind receive its final federal approval, which gets closer to our goal of generating clean energy for our region,” Carney told the Delaware Business Times.
