First Offshore Wind Farm Coming To Baltimore County
SPARROWS POINT, Md. (WJZ) -- There's a new offshore wind hub coming to Baltimore County.
When all is said in done, it will be one of the largest wind farms in the county, according to developers.
Tuesday, Tradepoint Atlantic and Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind announced its newest partnership.
It's called the Skipjack Windfarm- intended to create 1,400 jobs around Maryland and generate reliable energy to power about 35,000 homes.
"There's only one large scale offshore wind location in the United States," Aaron Tamarkio, of Tradepoint Atlantic, said. "This will be the second and the largest."
The new facility will transform the area in and around Sparrows Point- which was formerly the site of Bethlehem Steel, one of the country's largest steel producers.
"These are jobs that no longer ask our residents to sacrifice their personal health," Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said. "These jobs no longer ask our communities to sacrifice environmental health. So, in many ways, they are quite the opposite of what this site has meant in the past."
Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford recognized that this was once a thriving industrial area. In keeping with that same spirit, it will be transformed into a new industry- powering clean, renewable energy to places up and down the east coast.
"The governor and I have been deeply committed to working with Tradepoint to endure that this site becomes as economically dominant as it was in the 20th century, as we are in the 21st century."
Construction is slated to start in 2021, and the wind farm is scheduled for completion in 2022.