July 24, 2023 — The offshore wind industry has plenty of interest in building a wind farm off Delaware but only if the state commits to buying a certain quantity of power from a turbine farm, according to an offshore wind specialist at the University of Delaware.
Kris Ohleth, executive director of the school’s Special Initiative for Offshore Wind, said she has had discussions with Orsted – which is planning two wind farms off New Jersey – and US Wind — which has plans for a project off Maryland and southern Delaware – indicating that they are both watching Delaware closely to see if it will for the first time procure offshore wind power from the rapidly growing industry.
Both companies have unused wind-power capacity in their ocean-lease areas, and could build more turbines if they could be assured of more customers in Delaware, Ohleth said. The developers could also add to their leases by acquiring new offshore wind areas that are expected to be auctioned by the federal government next year, she said.
“They are very interested,” she said. “The additional capacity for the Orsted and US Wind sites, plus the central Atlantic leasing that is scheduled to happen in 2024, there’s interest in having another off-taker, for sure. Developers are always interested in another customer.”