Maryland PSC Schedules Public Hearings on Offshore Wind Projects

Maryland’s Public Service Commission will hold two public hearings on two offshore wind farm projects proposed by US Wind and Deepwater Wind in March.

The first public hearing will be held in Berlin, Maryland on 25 March. The second hearing is scheduled to take place in Annapolis on 30 March.

Written comments on the two projects may also be filed by 7 April.

The two projects are in contention for a portion of the USD 1.9 billion Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Credit (OREC).

US Wind was the first developer to bid for OREC back in February 2016. The company plans to build a 750MW offshore wind farm some 15 miles off Ocean City. The wind farm will comprise 187 turbines, installed in 20-30 meters water depth.

If approved, the project is anticipated to come online in early 2020, with an operational life expectancy of more than 25 years.

Deepwater Wind filed an OREC application for the 120MW Skipjack wind farm project located some 17 nautical miles northeast of Ocean City.

Deepwater Wind’s 30MW Block Island wind farm off Rhode Island became the first operational offshore wind farm in US waters in December 2016.

The company is also in the early stages of development of its South Fork Wind Farm, a 90MW offshore wind farm located in federal waters 30 miles east of Montauk, New York which is scheduled to become operational in 2022.