DAGSBORO – US Wind has proposed another round of financial support to be offered to both Delaware and Maryland as its new wind farm in federal waters continues to make waves.
The Maryland-based company plans on bringing more than 100 wind turbines to Delaware’s Sussex County coastline and has received multiple approvals for the process including green lights from both federal and state entities. Amid legal proceedings on the wind farm, US Wind has proposed a new $20 million pot of money that would work to benefit fishery research, businesses and maintenance needs.
The memorandum of understanding offers financial benefits for Maryland and Delaware, with less headed to the First State, to help offset affected areas and professionals in hopes of mitigating some of the potential impacts of construction.
In Maryland, $13.5 million would be set aside for the Maryland Fishing Community Resilience Fund, offering grants for fishing businesses in the harbor, 30 years of funding for maintenance at the West Ocean City Harbor and funds for gear development, marketing, business development and incentives for new commercial fishermen.
Delaware’s MOU includes funds for the Multi-Use Fishing Community Resilience Fund which will support fishing-related research and gear development.
“This is about our commitment to the region,” US Wind Director of Marine Affairs Ben Cooper told the Delaware Business Times. “This was specifically about the fisheries mediation, but it’s not the only work that’s being done in Delaware.”
The First State previously signed three agreements with US Wind valuing more than $128 million that could help power Delmarva in the near future. That agreement would provide for multiple needed services, including 150,000 renewable energy credits offered to Delaware utility companies, estimated at about $76 million.
US Wind also agreed to nearly $40 million to fund dredging, clean energy workforce training, environmental scholarships and other projects over the next 20 years, as well as its more than $12 million in lease payments to Delaware State Parks over the next 25 years, according to Offshore Wind Biz.
Cooper said US Wind understands the impact a wind farm can have on the nearby area and the company is committed to working with local entities to see it through responsibly.
“We have to go through a very long process of getting through the permitting. The permit process is largely done at the federal level. Then you have to go from there and get financing for the project and arrange for all of the logistics, then get the equipment built which is very expensive,” he said. “We hope to have the first phase of this project done in 2029. . . This funding proposal was quite a bit for fisheries, but it teams nicely with the previous agreement for $128 million in Delaware.”
In addition to the Maryland and Delaware specific funding, the new proposal includes $5.4 million for a claims-based compensation program for commercial and for-hire recreational fishermen who demonstrate losses to their fishery operations stemming from the US Wind projects and more than $1 million for upgraded navigation safety equipment and safety training for vessels and crews in the two states.
DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson said financial support is another step in the right direction to ensure cleaner energy while protecting the local area.
“As Delaware charts a course toward cleaner energy, we’re equally committed to looking out for our commercial fishers,” he said in the press release. “This MOU represents a balance: advancing needed energy generation while taking meaningful steps to protect fishing livelihoods and strengthen coastal resilience.”
