Maryland Issues Final Permit for Construction of Offshore Wind Farm
Maryland’s Department of the Environment, Air, and Radiation Administration issued the final necessary approval to permit the start of construction of US Wind’s proposed offshore wind farm. The large project has received all the necessary state and local permits, but it still faces local opposition and the potential that the Trump administration could object to the approvals issued at the end of the Biden administration.
US Wind highlights it has been in review and permitting for the past four years with an arduous and thorough process of reviews. It gained approvals in 2024 from Maryland, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and in December 2024 the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management signed off on the Construction and Operation Plan for the full site. Today’s approval from Maryland is for air quality permits for the construction and operation of Maryland Offshore Wind.
US Wind, which is a partnership between investors of funds managed by Apollo Global Management and Italy’s Renexia, acquired its lease for 80,000 acres from the federal government in 2014. It proposes to build in two phases a total project with up to a total of 114 wind turbines generating between 1.8 and 2 GW of power. The project also includes four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower, and up to four offshore export cable corridors.
It would be located between Maryland and Delaware approximately 10 miles offshore from Ocean City, Maryland a popular tourist and vacation destination. Ocean City has opposed the project on the grounds that it would be a negative for the tourist industry as well as potentially ocean fishing. Residents in Delaware have opposed the plan to bring a cable ashore in that state.
While Trump has adamantly opposes offshore wind, the Maryland project has not drawn the same attention as New Jersey where the administration withdrew a federal air quality permit. In New York, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum withdrew federal permits for over a month on the already under construction Empire Wind project.
Burgum alleged that the permit for Empire Wind had been rushed by the Biden administration despite the approvals having been issued in February 2024. US Wind’s approval came from BOEM in December 2024 after the presidential election. At the time, the Biden administration highlighted it was the nation’s tenth commercial-scale offshore wind project to be approved.
US Wind has all the approvals required to begin construction of its project although there continue to be pending legal cases objecting to the approvals. Maryland law also provides for an appeal of today’s approval which could trigger a judicial review. A potential appeal, which is likely from the opponents of the project and offshore wind in general, must be filed in Maryland by July 14.
Jeff Grybowski, CEO of US Wind said in a statement issued to Maryland media that the company was pleased to have secured the final permit from Maryland. He emphasized the benefits of the project and said they look forward to continued engagement with the state as they work to bring the project online.