The Maryland Energy Administration has announced $1.7 million in grant awards to six businesses and/or training centers under the fiscal 2022 Maryland Offshore Wind Capital Expenditure Grant Program and the Maryland Offshore Wind Workforce Training Grant Program.

The purpose of the programs is to establish an offshore wind supply chain in Maryland by helping workforce training centers and emerging businesses offset the capital expenditures needed to enter the new industry.  

Maryland, along with other east coast states, have collectively committed to procuring nearly 40,000 megawatt of offshore wind capacity by 2040. A recent report by the Special Initiative for Offshore Wind at the University of Delaware estimates that developing 30,000 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 presents a total revenue opportunity exceeding $100 billion for businesses in the offshore wind supply chain in the United States by 2030. 

The American Clean Power Association estimates this could create as many as 83,000 new jobs and generate nearly $25.4 billion of annual economic output to the U.S. economy.

The Maryland Public Service Commission has approved 2,022.5 MW of offshore wind capacity through Maryland’s Round 1 and 2 Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Credit Program. These projects will power nearly 600,000 average Maryland homes and create more than 12,000 direct full-time equivalent jobs during the development and construction phase, and more than 3,000 direct FTE jobs during the 20 to 30 year operations and maintenance phase. 

The awardees for the Maryland Offshore Wind Workforce Training Program are the Baltimore City Public Schools ($400,000); the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies, Linthicum ($320,000); and the Jane Addams Resource Corp., Baltimore ($225,000).

The awardees for the Maryland Offshore Wind Capital Expenditure Program are the Clark Machine Corp., ($213,000); Patriot Steel Fabrication, Church Creek ($320,000); and Strum Contracting Co. ($249,000).