Interior greenlights Maryland Offshore Wind Project
Offshore

Interior greenlights Maryland Offshore Wind Project

The Department of the Interior has announced the approval of US Wind’s Maryland Offshore Wind Project, the nation’s tenth commercial-scale offshore wind energy site.

At its closest points to shore, the lease area is approximately 8.7 nautical miles from Maryland and about 9 nautical miles from Sussex County, Delaware. Once operational, the project could generate more than 2 gigawatts of clean energy for the Delmarva Peninsula and power more than 718,000 homes.

The lease area of the Maryland Offshore Wind Project. Courtesy: BOEM

“Today marks the culmination of years of comprehensive environmental analysis on US Wind’s proposed projects,” said US Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski in reaction to BOEM’s favorable Record of Decision (ROD). “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 consists of three planned phases, which include the proposed installation 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 and Momentum Wind, already have offshore renewable energy certificates from the State of Maryland. US Wind’s COP considers the full build-out of the federal lease area.

Submit a case study! We want to hear about what you’re working on. Submit a case study with the chance to be featured in Renewable Energy World. 

BOEM’s ROD brings the two-year National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process to a close and sets US Wind on a path to securing all remaining federal permits by the end of 2024, the company says.

The Maryland Offshore Wind Project is the culmination of more than a decade of effort to add offshore wind generation to the state’s energy mix. Its genesis began with The Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013, which revised Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goal to source 25% of all electricity consumed in the state from renewable energy by the year 2020 and ​created a “carve-out” for offshore wind not to exceed 2.5% of the overall RPS.​

On August 19, 2014, BOEM held a competitive lease sale offshore Maryland. US Wind Inc. was identified as the winner of Lease Area OCS-A 0490 (46,970 acres) located 10 nautical miles offshore Ocean City, Maryland in federal waters. 

In 2019, Maryland’s RPS was increased to 50% by 2030 through the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), and the upper limit on offshore development was removed. The state now operates under a mandate to use 100% clean energy by 2035 with a goal of generating 8.5 GW from offshore wind by 2031.

In July 2021, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) initiated the state’s first offshore procurement, announcing in December that it had conditionally approved Ørsted’s Skipjack Wind Phase 2.1 and US Wind’s Momentum Wind (Bid 2) applications (Round 2 Projects). However, on January 25, 2024, Ørsted withdrew the Skipjack 1 and 2 projects from the OREC program. Months earlier, the Danish developer also announced it was scrapping its Ocean Wind I and II projects in southern New Jersey, citing supply chain issues and rising interest rates.

Earlier this year, Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced a schedule of planned offshore wind lease sales through 2028. The next two are in October 2024 for areas off the coasts of Oregon and Maine.