Delaware Governor John Carney and officials from the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) have signed three agreements valued at more than USD 128 million (approximately EUR 123 million) with US Wind, which recently received federal approval for its Maryland offshore wind development that will power the Delmarva Peninsula.
The Delaware state government and US Wind started negotiations on the agreements in late 2023. Now finalised, the state contracts are said to bring renewable energy, community and lease benefits to Delaware and its residents.
US Wind has entered into a contract with DNREC’s State Energy Office to provide 150,000 renewable energy credits (RECs) each year, estimated at a total of USD 76 million (approx. EUR 73 million) over the two projects’ lifespan, which will be transferred to Delaware utilities to help them meet clean energy requirements, thus lowering customer bills.
Furthermore, the developer will fund coastal waterway dredging, clean energy workforce training, environmental scholarships, and resiliency and capital projects at state parks under an agreement worth USD 40 million (approx. EUR 38 million) over 20 years.
US Wind has also signed a lease with Delaware State Parks for underground access for power transmission cables at Delaware Seashore State Parks, with lease payments that will total more than USD 12 million (approx. EUR 11.5 million) over 25 years.
The signing of the state agreements comes as US Wind received the required federal and state environmental and permit approvals in December 2024, including DNREC’s approvals that allow US Wind to land power cables underneath 3R’s Beach parking lot in the Delaware Seashore State Park and route them under the Indian River Bay to connect to the regional electrical grid at Delmarva Power and Light’s Indian River substation in Dagsboro, Delaware.
“With the recent federal and state project approvals, we are ready to reap the environmental, health, workforce, energy cost and community benefits from this needed transition to renewable energy”, said Governor Carney . “Delawareans will benefit in numerous ways from this important agreement.”
US Wind’s Construction and Operation Plan (COP) which was greenlighted by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in December 2024, covers the full planned buildout of the company’s lease area off Maryland, which could have around 2 GW of installed offshore wind capacity.
The entire project consists of three planned phases. The first two phases, the 300 MW MarWin and the 800 MW Momentum Wind , already have offshore renewable energy certificates from the State of Maryland.
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