Posted on April 3, 2023
Today, Baltimore-based US Wind, Inc. (US Wind) announced its plan to form a long-term partnership with Haizea Wind Group (Haizea) to manage and operate Sparrows Point Steel, Maryland’s first permanent offshore wind factory in Baltimore County, Maryland. The facility will be available to manufacture steel components for the US offshore wind industry, including monopiles and towers.
“The partnership between US Wind and Haizea to lead Sparrows Point Steel will create one of the premier offshore wind industrial facilities in the world,” said Jeffrey Grybowski, US Wind CEO. “Sitting on nearly 100 acres of waterfront in Baltimore County, Sparrows Point Steel is poised to become the best offshore wind heavy logistics and fabrication yard on the East Coast. Haizea’s depth of knowledge and expertise will cement Maryland’s role as a hub of offshore wind manufacturing in the U.S.”
Haizea Wind Group has vast expertise in designing, building, and operating manufacturing facilities for monopile foundations and towers for offshore wind farms across the globe. An important pillar of Haizea’s strategy is to contribute to the decarbonization of the economy, and they do this by capitalizing on their vast experience and lessons learned to serve the offshore wind industry.
As Borja Zarraga, Haizea Wind Group’s CEO, stated, “Haizea is delighted to cooperate with US Wind to develop the Sparrows Point Steel offshore tubular facility and is highly committed to this value-creation project for the industrial sector of Baltimore, the state of Maryland, and the U.S.”
Sparrows Point Steel has the potential to be one of the largest offshore wind staging ports in the United States. Once built, the facility will have significant marshalling and storage land, as well as considerable quayside access and an adjacent drydock, making it one of the most competitive offshore wind marshalling hubs on the East Coast.
The Sparrows Point site was once the home of Bethlehem Steel when it was the largest steel production facility in the world. It has a special historical relevance to the United Steelworkers, who will support fabrication operations there. US Wind’s MarWin and Momentum Wind projects will be among the first to procure components from Sparrows Point Steel.
US Wind is committed to revitalizing underserved communities; hiring skilled union labor and minority-owned businesses; and collaborating with local communities for a brighter future. Learn more about Sparrows Point Steel.
About US Wind
US Wind was founded in 2011 and has established itself as Maryland’s leader in offshore wind development. In 2014, US Wind acquired an 80,000-acre federal lease area off the coast of Maryland. In 2017, Maryland approved the company’s MarWin project and, in 2021, the state approved the Momentum Wind project. In addition to building MarWin and Momentum Wind, US Wind will also establish Maryland’s first permanent offshore wind component factory – Sparrows Point Steel – to serve the entire U.S. market and secure a major role for the state in the rapidly growing U.S. offshore wind industry.
US Wind is owned by Renexia S.p.A., a leader in renewable energy development in Italy and a subsidiary of Toto Holding S.p.A., and Apollo Global Management, an investment firm with more than $400 billion in assets under management.
About Haizea Wind Group
Haizea Wind Group was formed in 2017 and has grown to the current status through a mix of organic and inorganic growth. Two existing companies have been incorporated to the group (Grupo WEC and Tecnoaranda) and three new companies – and its associated production facilities – have been developed as greenfield investments: In 2018 Haizea launched Haizea Sica, its wind tower factory in Santa Fe (Argentina). Also in 2018, production was launched in the offshore tower factory in the Port of Bilbao, Haizea Bilbao, by a group of professionals with extensive experience and with the aim of becoming the benchmark in offshore wind manufacturing in the European market. More recently, in 2022, Haizea Wind Group opened the Haizea Breizh plant in France, also dedicated to offshore wind towers.
In 2023, Haizea will inaugurate its new state-of-the-art monopile factory in the port of Bilbao, where it is investing more than 150M€. Haizea Wind Group currently has three business units: wind towers, offshore foundations and large wind power castings. The Group currently employs around 1,200 people and turnover in 2022 will exceed 250 million euros.
