U.S. Interior Approves Construction and Operations Plan for Maryland Offshore Wind Project

The U.S. Interior Department on Dec. 3 approved US Wind’s construction and operation plan for its proposed  Maryland Offshore Wind project. The project, situated nearly 8.7 nautical miles from the Maryland coast and around 9 nautical miles from Delaware’s Sussex County, could generate up to 2 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy and power over 700,000 households in the Delmarva Peninsula.

The plan, which has three phases, includes deploying 114 wind turbine generators, four offshore substations, a meteorological tower, and up to four offshore export cables to Sussex County. Two phases of the project, MarWin and Momentum Wind, have secured offshore renewable energy certificates from Maryland regulators. The department announced the project’s approval on Sep. 5. Before the approval of the construction plan, the project underwent a thorough environmental review to evaluate and mitigate potential negative impacts on local communities and the environment.

Since 2021, the department has approved over ten offshore wind projects with a combined generating capacity of 15 GW, which could power over 5 million households. The Biden administration has set a  nationwide goal of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 15 GW of floating offshore wind by 2035.