Delaware Schedules Offshore Wind Meets

Delaware’s Offshore Wind Working Group is hosting two public workshops to gather input on the potential of offshore wind energy and the ways that it might benefit this U.S. state.

In conjunction with the Division of Energy and Climate of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), the workshops will be held on 27 November at the Appoquinimink Training Center in Odessa and on 5 December at the Lewes Public Library in Lewes, both beginning at 6PM local time.

Both workshops will begin with a briefing on the status of the Offshore Wind Working Group, established by the Governor of Delaware John Carney to study potential environmental and economic development benefits of offshore wind development.

The briefing is followed by a presentation by the representatives from US Wind and Deepwater Wind on projects approved earlier this year by the Maryland Public Service Commission, and the prospects for new offshore wind projects that might provide economic opportunities and energy benefits to the state. The public will then be invited to comment on these projects in an open forum, DNREC said.

The Offshore Wind Working Group began meeting in October, and by 15 December should submit a report to the governor with recommendations on short- and long-term strategies for developing wind power to serve Delaware, and plans to develop job opportunities in the offshore wind industry.