US Wind, a proposed 2.2 gigawatt (GW) Maryland offshore wind farm, just took a major step toward securing all of its federal permits by the end of 2024.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today released US Wind’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), clearing another hurdle for the project’s developers, Italy’s renewable energy developer Renexia, to build up to 114 turbines totaling 2,200 megawatts (MW) capacity, enough to power 770,000 homes with clean energy.

Jeff Grybowski, US Wind’s CEO, said in an emailed statement, “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.”

US Wind’s lease area is approximately 10 miles off the Maryland coast and approximately 10.4 miles off Sussex County, Delaware, at its closest points to shore. The project includes three planned phases and two of those phases, MarWin and Momentum Wind, have received offshore renewable energy certificates from the State of Maryland.  

US Wind’s proposal also includes up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower, and up to four corridors for offshore export cables that would make landfall in Delaware Seashore State Park.

The development and construction phases of the project could potentially support an estimated 2,679 jobs annually over seven years.

US Wind has been awarded offtake agreements with the state of Maryland and will re-engage the state’s public utility board to restructure those agreements in the fall.

As part of the project, US Wind advanced plans to build Sparrows Point Steel, an offshore wind turbine foundation facility in Baltimore Harbor, which, when fully operational, would employ more than 500 people, including hundreds of unionized steelworkers.

 Liz Burdock, president and CEO at Oceantic Network, said in an emailed statement:

Along with US Wind’s direct investment in Sparrows Point Steel, this offshore wind project will contribute to new, well-paying jobs across Maryland and throughout the supply chain.

While more projects are needed to meet Maryland’s offshore wind energy targets, today’s action is an important step forward to deliberately advance another commercial scale offshore wind project.

Once US Wind receives final approval to begin construction, the pipeline of approved projects during the Biden administration will exceed 15 GW. Currently, more than 5 GW of projects are under installation, and 300+ MW are online.

Read more: The world’s largest steel mill will get a second life as a wind turbine factory

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