Maryland Offshore Wind Project Nears Federal Approval

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced the release of its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed offshore wind project near Maryland.

The proposed project, if approved, could generate between 1,100 and 2,200 megawatts of clean, renewable energy for the Delmarva Peninsula, potentially powering up to 770,000 homes. US Wind, the company behind the project, is seeking approval for three phases: MarWin and Momentum Wind, both of which have already received offshore renewable energy certificates from the State of Maryland.

“Our environmental review carefully considered the best available science and information provided by Tribes, other government agencies, local communities, industry, ocean users, and environmental organizations,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “This vital collaboration with all our government partners and stakeholders will continue through the subsequent phases of the project.”

In June 2022 and October 2023, BOEM held public meetings, including in-person and virtual sessions, to gather input from Tribal Nations, community members, commercial fishing interests, and other ocean users on the environmental review process and a draft of the EIS for Maryland Wind.

If approved, the project will involve the installation of up to 114 turbines, up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower, and up to four corridors for offshore export cables, which would make landfall in Delaware Seashore State Park. The lease area is approximately 8.7 nautical miles offshore Maryland and about 9 nautical miles offshore Sussex County, Delaware.

The development and construction phases could support an estimated 2,679 jobs annually over seven years. “We are well on our way to putting Maryland’s offshore wind goals that much closer to reality,” said Jeff Grybowski, US Wind CEO. “We applaud BOEM for the comprehensive and thorough review of our federal permit application. We are now one step closer to securing all of our federal permits by the end of this year and look forward to the day we can get steel in the water.”

BOEM’s final EIS is a significant milestone in the two-year National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, indicating that the project is nearing the end of the federal review. The next step is for BOEM to issue a Record of Decision (ROD) on US Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP), expected in September 2024. Favorable decisions from other federal and state agencies are also anticipated by the end of 2024, US Wind said.

US Wind, owned by Renexia S.p.A. and a subsidiary of Toto Holding S.p.A., acquired an 80,000-acre federal lease area off the coast of Maryland in 2014. Since 2020, Apollo Global Management funds have been used to build the team and support project development.

BOEM’s publishing of the US Wind Environmental Impact Statement marks the tenth environmental review of commercial-scale offshore wind project completed since the Biden-Harris administration took office.

Under the administration, the Department of the Interior has approved the nation’s first nine commercial-scale offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of over 13 gigawatts, enough to power nearly 5 million homes. The Department has held four offshore wind lease auctions and recently announced plans to hold up to 12 additional lease sales through 2028.

An offshore wind lease sale for the Central Atlantic, auctioning areas offshore Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, is scheduled for August 14 and could generate up to 6.3 gigawatts of clean energy, powering up to 2.2 million homes.

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