Wind power in Maryland, which has land-based and offshore resources, is in the early stages of development. As of 2016, Maryland has 191 megawatts of wind powered electricity generating capacity, responsible for 1.4% of in-state generated electricity. Two offshore wind farm projects that will supply wind-generated power to the state are underway.
Great Bay Wind Energy Center is a proposed wind farm that will utilize coastal winds in Somerset County The $200-million, 150-megawatt facility is being undertaken by Texas-based Pioneer Green Energy which proposes to Initially build twenty-five wind turbines. A second phase would add another 25 turbines. A single turbine is proposed as demo to overcome public adversity to the project.
The Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013 is a legislation to encourage the development of up to 500 MW of offshore wind capacity, authorized $1.7 billion in subsidies for the next 20 years for Maryland offshore wind development.
In 2014, US Wind, a subsidiary of Italy-based Renexia SpA, won the auction for a 25-year leases for both areas issued by the BOEM with a bid of $8.7 million for areas. Development of their project is hindered by the uncertainty of government direction since the state legislature and local governments are considering banning certain areas. As of the summer of 2016 US Wind has completed underwater surveys of the potential sites about a dozen miles off the coast of Maryland and is submitting plans for environmental review by year end.
Skipjack
The 120 MW Skipjack Wind Farm off Delaware's coast is scheduled for commissioning in 2022. It will use Haliade-X turbines, with rotors 220 meters long, made in Cherbourg, France. Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind will partner with a logistics center in Maryland to create a 50-acre staging center for offshore wind manufacturing, capable of servicing projects up and down the East Coast. The developer will work with Tradepoint Atlantic, based in Port of Baltimore, to develop a staging area for on-land assembly, storage and loading out into deep waters. The Port of Paulsboro on the Delaware River in New Jersey could become the production site for the enormous concrete foundations for turbines. Ørsted has proposed using 1.5 acres of land a Fenwick Island State Park in Delaware as a transmission point.
