Governor Martin O’Malley’s Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act is headed for his desk for a signature, after its full passage on Monday . However, there is a lot more work to be done regarding offshore wind development in the state.
The bill will establish a mechanism to incentivize the development of a 200 megawatt offshore wind farm and a regulatory framework that will allow further projects to interconnect in Maryland.
Nevertheless, the first sign of construction off the state’s coast could be seen in four to seven years, if not even longer, due to regulatory, political and financial difficulties that still remain, the Baltimore Sun writes.
The Federal Government will issue a notice of intent to lease an area of almost 80,000 acres off Maryland this year, thus securing a lease is one of the following difficulties.
Furthermore, according to the bill, an offshore wind developer could get a subsidy of up to USD 1.7 billion throughout 20 years, which would be paid for through consumers’ electricity bills. Also, the bill will limit rate increases for residential customers to USD 1.50 per month and businesses to 1.5%.
The state’s power supplier will need to get up to 2.5% of their electricity from offshore wind in 2017.
Offshore wind impact on fish, migratory bird and marine mammal populations, as well as on commercial and recreational fishing and shipping, is still under evaluation, which may result in trimming the area intended for offshore wind, according to the news site.
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Offshore WIND Staff, March 20, 2013; Image: Siemens