WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will conduct an environmental review of a wind energy project off the shore of Delaware and Maryland.

This week, the department will publish its intent to prepare an environmental-impact statement for the construction and operations plan submitted by US Wind. It is the 10th COP review for offshore-wind energy initiated under the Biden-Harris administration.

“President (Joe) Biden has set the bar high for a clean-energy future with ambitious offshore-wind goals that will lower costs for families, create nearly 80,000 good-paying jobs and make substantive progress as we work to confront the climate crisis,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “The Department of the Interior is continuing to meet the moment as part of this administration’s all-of-government approach to addressing the climate crisis, which includes early and ongoing engagement with nearby communities.”

According to the Interior Department, the lease area is approximately 10 nautical miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, and approximately 9 nautical miles off of Sussex County, Delaware.

If approved, development and construction of the project could support an estimated 2,679 jobs annually over seven years, according to the department’s release.

The publication of the notice of intent opens a public comment period through July 8, part of the process to help BOEM determine the scope of its environmental review.

According to the Department of Interior, US Wind’s proposal includes:

• Construction and operation of an offshore-wind project with a total capacity between 1,100-2,000 megawatts of clean, renewable wind energy to the Delmarva Peninsula, which could power as many as 650,000 homes in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia each year.
• Installation of up to 121 turbines, up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower and up to four offshore export cable corridors, which are planned to make landfall in the Delaware Seashore State Park in Rehoboth Beach.

During the public comment period, BOEM will hold virtual meetings to inform the preparation of the EIS on June 21 and 23 at 5 p.m. and on June 27 at 1 p.m.

Registration and information, including how to comment, can be found here.

Meanwhile, Danish-based Ørsted’s plan includes Skipjack 1 and Skipjack 2, which will be developed, constructed and operated as one project, according to Brady Walker, the company’s head of governmental and stakeholder affairs for Delaware/Maryland.

Skipjack turbines are expected to be 15½ miles offshore at its northernmost point and 21 at the southernmost.