Good afternoon,
A follow-up on the proposed Ørsted Skipjack wind farm off the coast of Fenwick Island and Ocean City, MD.
A manager for the project told Coastal Point the powerline would come ashore somewhere in Delaware. An earlier plan to hook up with the grid at Fenwick Island State Park was shelved for environmental reasons.
The ideal candidate for Delaware is the Indian River Power Plant site, which could shut down next year.
Electric infrastructure is already in place at the Indian River, although work may be needed to strengthen the nearby grid due to the loss of Delaware’s last coal-fired plant. That work could delay the closing.
The wind power projects that would run into the billions of dollars would add a needed economic boost to a tourism and real estate-dependent southern Delaware economy.
Skipjack and the U.S. Wind project (which is mainly located to the south of the Delaware coast) were the subjects of a Maryland Public Service Commission hearing last week that drew testimony from Ocean City area foes and Baltimore supporters.
Opponents insist that wind farms harm the beach economy, while supporters say turbines upwards of 20 miles off the coast on a clear day might amount to a speck on the horizon.
Hardcore opponents who throw a kitchen sink’s worth of objections at windpower are pinning their hopes on a lawsuit in Massachusetts over a more controversial wind power project.
In Delaware, the Indian River site offers a lot of possibilities for renewable energy for Ørsted and Delaware since the brownfield site sits on 1,000 acres.
Onshore wind, solar, and storage via batteries or other technologies are among the possibilities.
Don’t expect a natural gas-fired power plant at the Indian River. In addition to the cost of a pipeline, fossil fuels are under fire due to hydraulic fracturing, “fracking,” and leaks from wells. A massive Pennsylvania gas-fired power plant in coal country was recently shelved due in part to community opposition.
Update from Friday
Our apologies for the links not showing up in Friday’s column on September’s top stories. Below are the corrected URL links.
- Biden drops off Capriotti’s subs at union hall before heading back to D.C.
- Covid update: While cases, hospitalizations climb, Delaware stays in the bottom half of states in the virus’ spread
- Bear resident convicted of running elaborate cocaine transport scheme with cartel ties
- Biden leaves Delaware for West Coast trip.
- Biden flies out after a quiet weekend trip to home near Rehoboth
- Covid-19 update: 2 deaths and a decline in daily cases
- Lunch, dinner coming on Monday to Wilmington flood victims
- Covid-19 update: No new deaths, 454 new cases
- A dozen new deaths reported from Covid-19 in recent days, all but two unvaccinated
- Update: Flooding, evacuations after remnants of Ida sweep through the region
Enjoy the rest of your evening. This newsletter returns tomorrow. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
