Posted on September 2, 2020
Maryland’s Public Service Commission has approved Danish wind-power company Ørsted’s proposed use of 12-megawatt turbines off the Ocean City, Md., coast for its planned Skipjack wind farm.
The use of GE Haliade-X 12-megawatt wind turbines in the project was the subject of a public hearing in January in Ocean City. Ørsted had requested the change from 8-megawatt turbines originally planned for the wind farm.
“Ørsted is pleased that the Maryland Public Service Commission approved the project’s longstanding commitment to use the best commercially-available turbine technology,” said Brady Walker, Ørsted’s Mid-Atlantic market manager.
The use of larger turbines will reduce the number of turbines planned for the Skipjack project from 15 to 12 or fewer, according to the PSC decision.
The written decision released last week also states, “No hearing evidence indicates that the change in turbine selection will create additional adverse impacts to navigational safety, marine life or the broader environment.”
The PSC decision states that it has concluded from testimony at the January hearing that the larger turbines would not significantly change the visual impact of the turbines from the coastline. The newer, larger turbines would be 853 feet tall.
When completed, Ørsted says, the wind farm will supply electricity to 35,000 homes on the Delmarva peninsula. The 120-megawatt offshore wind farm will be located 19.5 miles off the Maryland-Delaware coast.
Ørsted currently operates the Block Island Wind Farm off the coast of Rhode Island, the first offshore wind farm in the United States.
In July, Ørsted announced that it was dropping its proposal to bring power cables from the wind farm ashore at the Fenwick Island State Park. At that time, the company said it is seeking other potential sites at which to connect power to the regional electric grid, mentioning locations in Bethany Beach and Cedar Neck, near Ocean View, as possible sites for a connection facility. No announcement has been made about potential sites where the power cables might be brought ashore, with the state park location now out of the picture.
At the time, the state Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control said the decision had been reached “responsibly” on Ørsted’s part. In a statement from DNREC spokesman Michael Globetti, the agency said, “There has been an understanding since the proposal was first made that significant negative impact to the environment, including wetlands at Fenwick Island State Park, would not be acceptable to DNREC or to Ørsted.
“And any interconnection along the Delaware coast, whether on state or private land, would be subject to environmental and regulatory permitting processes by DNREC and other agencies, with considerable public input,” Globetti said.
Source: coastalpoint
