US Wind stands up for Maryland
(Courtesy of offshoreWind.biz)Following the news that Deepwater Wind applied for building an offshore wind farm off Maryland’s coast and the start of a 6-month application evaluation period, US Wind, the company which was first to submit an application to develop an offshore wind project in the state, made a case for its Maryland offshore wind project.
The developer pointed out that, of the two applicants, US Wind is the only Maryland-based company and has its national headquarters in Baltimore. The company’s officials said they are confident in their proposal, which aims to set up the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind farm in Maryland, with up to 187 turbines creating a total installed capacity of 750MW and enabling the wind farm to produce power for more than 500,000 households.
“We welcome the competition but we feel our proposal is superior in every way,” said Paul Rich, Director of Project Development. “Our Maryland project will create an industry for offshore wind in Maryland. We have a quicker timeline and our project will provide more clean energy for the state, construct more turbines, create more local steel manufacturing and fabrication jobs, generate more economic benefits and provide the best deal for Maryland ratepayers.”
Rich said that US Wind has already spent more that USD 20 million to bring the offshore wind industry to Maryland, and that the company is ready to invest much more. “This isn’t just about bringing a single project to Maryland – it’s about bringing an entire industry to Maryland. We live here, we are hiring here and we can’t wait to start generating clean, renewable Maryland energy.”
US Wind’s economic projections show that its Maryland project alone will create thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of well-paying long-term careers. In addition, US Wind officials say they want to make Maryland the epicenter of the emerging industry and the East Coast hub for offshore wind economic activity. The company recently partnered with Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,100-acre multimodal industrial site in Sparrows Point, Baltimore, built on the site of a former steel mill, to host two information sessions with business leaders and government officials discussing the economic benefits offshore wind would bring to Maryland.
All applications to the PSC are required to meet criteria of the 2013 Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act. US Wind’s application was determined to be administratively complete by the Public Service Commission and to have met all ratepayers’ safeguard criteria, the company highlighted. “We are the only applicant that has developed detailed engineering designs, conducted multiple offshore marine surveys, built strong ties to Eastern Shore and Baltimore stakeholders, identified prime areas of industrial manufacturing development and applied for the necessary interconnection queue positions from the power grid,” Rich said.