The Delaware government has signed agreements with US Wind to provide renewable energy, community and lease benefits to the state and its residents worth more than $128m.
The company is behind plans for the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, which will be created in two phases, MarWin and Momentum.
Governor John Carney and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) signed three agreements with US Wind this week.
The finalisation of the deals came after US Wind received federal and state environmental and permit approvals in December 2024 for the first US Wind project, and about a year after the initial announcement of negotiations on the agreements.
The finalised deals include an agreement with DNREC’s State Energy Office to provide 150,000 renewable energy credits (RECs) each year associated with the wind generation, which will be transferred to Delaware utilities to help them meet clean energy requirements, thus lowering customer bills.
The RECs have an estimated value of $76m over the life of the projects.
US Wind will also fund coastal waterway dredging, clean energy workforce training, environmental scholarships, and resiliency and capital projects at state parks. The community benefits agreement is worth $40m over 20 years.
Finally, the agreements include a lease with Delaware State Parks for underground access for power transmission cables at Delaware Seashore State Parks.
Lease payments from US Wind will total more than $12m over 25 years.
The three agreements facilitate what are likely to be among the first wind projects in operation in the mid-Atlantic.
The projects will sell carbon-free power into the regional power grid, and this new source of power generation is projected by US Wind to lower electricity costs for Delaware ratepayers by up to $253m over 20 years.
US Wind will also invest more than $200m in transmission system upgrades.
“With the recent federal and state project approvals, we are ready to reap the environmental, health, workforce, energy cost and community benefits from this needed transition to renewable energy,” said Governor Carney.
“Delawareans will benefit in numerous ways from this important agreement.”