Epic to erect meteorological tower for Maryland’s offshore wind farm

Offshore wind energy developer US Wind has signed an agreement with Epic Applied Technologies for the installation of a meteorological tower off the coast of Maryland, marking a key milestone in one of the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind energy projects. The met tower will be used to collect raw wind data at a height comparable to the eventual turbine height. The collected wind data will be used primarily to validate the virtual data collected through mathematical models and will also monitor the performance of the installed turbines during the lifetime of the eventual wind farm. “This important milestone represents US Wind’s ongoing commitment to realizing this first-of-its-kind large-scale renewable energy project in the state of Maryland,” said Riccardo Toto, president of US Wind. “We look forward to delivering the significant economic and job-creation benefits that our project represents and to advancing our leadership position in this fast-developing new American industry.” Installation of the met mast tower is scheduled to begin on July 14, 2019, with installation completed by August 8, 2019. The US Wind Maryland project, expected to be operational during 2023, will involve the installation of up to 32 wind turbines – 17 miles off the coast of Ocean City – eventually producing 268MW of offshore wind energy, the equivalent of providing 76,000 Maryland homes with clean, renewable energy. It is anticipated that the US Wind project will result in the creation of approximately 7,000 direct and indirect jobs and represent an in-state investment of nearly US$1.5bn.