Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) has denied a Motion to Disqualify filed by Skipjack Offshore Energy, owned by Orsted, against some of the proposals US Wind submitted in the state’s latest offshore wind application round.
In December 2020 the commission issued a notice commencing the Round 2, Year 1 Offshore Wind Application Period, pursuant to the requirements of the Clean Energy Jobs Act of 2019, after a potential offshore wind application had been received and deemed administratively complete on 22 December.
This opened a 180-day window during which other persons could submit offshore wind applications.
At the close of the application period, five offshore wind bids were received from two entities, US Wind and Skipjack.
US Wind submitted three mutually exclusive bids for projects with commercial operation dates (CODs) of 2026, 2027 and 2028.
Bid 1 proposes a 411.6MW project with a COD of 2026, Bid 2, which proposes that 411.6MW be built and commence operation in 2026, with a second tranche of 396.9MW to be built and commence operation in 2027; and Bid 3, which proposes that 411.6MW be built and commence operation in 2026, with a second tranche of 793.8MW to be built and commence operation in 2028.
In its Motion to Disqualify, Skipjack argues that Bids 2 and 3 of US Wind’s application do not meet the statutory requirements of Annotated Code of Maryland, Public Utilities Article.
It requires that offshore wind project proposals “submitted during the Application Period for Round 2, Year 1 begin creating offshore wind renewable energy credits (ORECs) not later than 2026.”
Skipjack claims that in contravention of that requirement, the price schedules included in US Wind’s Bids 2 and 3 “will not begin creating ORECs until 2027 or later,” and fall outside the scope of applications the commission is permitted to consider during the Round 2, Year 1 Application Period.