Good afternoon,
The biggest story in Ocean City, MD, was not the unveiling of preliminary plans for a Margaritaville resort on an aging stretch of the boardwalk.
Granted, Jimmy Buffett’s Parrot Head army and an ability to market $350 margarita machines and 55-plus subdivisions make the square-block development more than a remote possibility. (News of the development was one of our most popular posts last week).
But the far bigger story came with USWind announcing plans to expand its wind generating complex off the coast at Ocean City while engineering a deal to bring a steel fabrication site to Sparrow’s Point near Baltimore.
USWind’s announcement
Sparrows Point was the site of what at one time was the world’s largest steel mill and nearby shipbuilding complex. The site is now being developed into a logistics (warehouse) center.
Until now, the focus had been on Ørsted, which is proposing an expansion of its Skipjack wind power project. A sizable portion of Skipjack lies about 17 miles off the Delaware coast. By contrast, U.S. Wind sites are mainly off Ocean City itself.
USWind, a project of an Italian company, has made no visible outreach effort in Delaware.
Until environmental issues scuttled the deal, lines from Skipjack had been proposed to come ashore on a small portion of Fenwick Island State park property, with the heavily used recreation site getting a $17 million upgrade. It is still possible that a Delaware location will emerge for wind power “extension cords.”
Ørsted has taken pains to include Delaware in community conversations on the project while also touting its economic impact on the First State. Electric power from the wind would be credited toward Maryland’s goal of getting much of its electricity from renewables.
Wind power off Jersey shore
Ørsted’s ambitious expansion plans extend to New Jersey, another state aggressively pursuing offshore wind development. The US unit of the Danish company is working to build a massive wind power complex off the coast of South Jersey, with a steel fabrication site on the Delaware River.
The New Jersey and Maryland projects face opposition from groups ranging from the fishing industry to those worried about beachfront views.
Will turbines spoil views?
Glasgow-based Caesar Rodney Institute has been a long-time foe of current projects, citing one study that claims the towers will keep summer home renters away. Others dispute the study which is based on people asked if they would rent a vacation home with a wind tower backdrop.
Wind power backers say the towers may amount to a speck on the horizon and promised to work with affected industries. Aircraft warning lights might show up in the evening.
Ocean City, MD officials, would like to see the wind turbines 30 miles offshore, a distance that would sharply increase costs. Still, momentum seems to be moving in the direction of construction with the Biden-Harris administration throwing its support behind such efforts and ample capital apparently available.
Delaware can only look on and prepare to buy wind power from other sources in meeting its renewable energy goal.
The state was first out of the gate a decade ago with the Bluewater Wind project, which fell victim to a sluggish economy, higher costs, and a lack of investors.
The economics of wind power have changed with massive turbine towers the height of New York’s Chrysler Building able to generate electricity at a lower cost.
Had Bluewater Wind towers been higher, the project would have been a nonstarter since its location was about 10 miles off the coast.
The good news comes in the form of a construction boom that will aid traveling Delaware construction workers.
Even if it had a short lifespan, a steel fabrication plant would be a big plus. Still, the political and economic heft of Maryland and New Jersey make that possibility a longshot. There had been talk of a site south of Memorial Bridge that could transport assembled towers.
For now, all Delaware can do is look on and hope some of the benefits of offshore wind trickle down. As for a Margaritaville on the Delaware Coast, prospects are as dim as those for a First State wind power project.. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
