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A Danish firm announced that the power-generating wind聽turbines it will place off the coast of Ocean City will be assembled聽at the聽Baltimore County site that was once home to a Bethlehem Steel plant.
脴rsted U.S. Offshore Wind plans to erect between 12 and 15 wind turbines 20 miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. The devices will be constructed on a portion of the 3,300-acre site along Sparrows Point that is now owned by the logistics giant Tradepoint Atlantic.
The firm has built and operates聽several wind farms in Europe and Asia,聽and it has a smaller five-turbine farm near Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island.
At a press conference Tuesday聽morning, officials with the two companies, the state and the county said the development of聽what 脴rsted is calling the Skipjack Wind Farm will boost the state鈥檚 economy while providing enough energy 鈥� 120 megawatts 鈥� to power 35,000 homes.
鈥淲e aren鈥檛 only expanding business and creating new jobs today, but we鈥檙e expanding clean, safe renewable energy sources and most importantly, we鈥檙e protecting our environment,鈥� said Kerry Doyle, Tradepoint Atlantic chief commercial officer. 鈥淭hat really is the definition of a win-win situation.鈥�
Officials said the project will generate 1,400 jobs 鈥� more than 900 during development and construction, and nearly 500 during operation.
鈥淚t makes this聽the region鈥檚 logistics epicenter of offshore wind projects,鈥� said Baltimore County Executive John 鈥淛ohnny O鈥� Olszewski Jr. (D). 鈥淭hat means jobs, and it means innovation is coming here to Sparrows Point. It means a greener economy is literally being built here.鈥�
Officials said preparation of the site will begin in the coming months. They expect the turbines to be installed and generating power by 2022.
Asked whether the wind farm will be visible from the shoreline, Claus M酶ller, chief operating officer of 脴rsted U.S. Offshore Wind, described the visual impact as 鈥渧ery limited.鈥�
鈥淥n a [cloudy] day like this, you would probably hardly see them,鈥� he said on Tuesday. 鈥淚f you were on a more clear day, you would probably see something out there.鈥�
The closing of the Bethlehem Steel plant in 2003 dealt a blow to the eastern part of Baltimore County, and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford (R) said it wasn鈥檛 that long ago that 鈥渢his site looked like the scenes from the first 鈥楾erminator鈥� movie.鈥欌��
鈥淣ever before have we been able to celebrate the start of an offshore wind staging center in Maryland,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I can鈥檛 think of a site that is more perfectly suited for that task.鈥�
An 脴rsted official said offshore wind farms are expected to spring up in the coming years all along the East Coast, including in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Connecticut, as the push for clean energy grows and the costs of production drop.
The project was awarded offshore wind renewable energy credits by the Maryland Public Service Commission in 2017.
鈥淭his is a good thing for Baltimore County and for Maryland,鈥� said Alison Prost, Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, in a statement. 鈥淭his center will provide more resources to revitalize a property that is trying to mitigate legacy pollution contamination from the former steel mill. The center will also advance a much-needed renewable energy source in the state and serve as an example of how the renewable energy industry can provide jobs as well as boost the local economy.鈥�
