Maryland Energy Administration Announces $1.2 million in Awards for FY23 Offshore Wind Supply Chain Development Grants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jahmai Sharp-Moore | 443-694-3651

Baltimore, MD  – The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) announces $1.2 million in grant awards to three businesses and training centers under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 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 offset the capital expenditures and operating costs associated with developing offshore wind training curriculum and conducting the associated training.
 
Governor Moore recognized the grant program’s importance and celebrated its success during a panel discussion with students and staff of Baltimore’s Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC). The governor acknowledged the results of their training would contribute to making Maryland the home for offshore wind power. 

“MEA’s Maryland Offshore Wind Workforce Training Program helps our state establish the industry education resources needed to create an offshore wind supply chain and workforce,” said Paul Pinsky, Director of MEA. These funds will ensure a skilled workforce can support the demand that the offshore wind industry will bring. 

Maryland, along with other east coast states, has collectively committed to procuring nearly 40,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind capacity by 2040. A 2022 report by the Special Initiative for Offshore Wind at 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 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 (OREC) Program. These projects will power nearly 600,000 average Maryland homes and create more than 12,000 direct full-time equivalent (FTE) 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. 

These projects will support Maryland’s growing offshore wind supply chain and result in at least $1.5 billion of in-state expenditures including at least $325 million for small, minority, woman, and veteran owned businesses. Project developers have committed to investments of $40 million for port infrastructure, $76 million for steel fabrication, $150 million for monopile foundation manufacturing, $140 million for subsea cable manufacturing, and $100 million for turbine tower manufacturing. 

The awardees for FY 2023 include the following three organizations. A fourth award recipient was in the pending approval phase at the time of this release.

MITAGS – $374,300.00 
Anne Arundel County

Project Description

MITAGS will expand the capabilities of their MM&P Maritime Advancement, Training, Education, and Safety Program (MMP MATES) to include a “virtual reality” (VR) component to their simulation technology center. Through their simulation technology center, MITAGS is able to offer training to mariners who will operate the offshore wind construction and crew transfer and support vessels (CTV). The implementation of VR in the simulation technology center is intended to advance the “hands on training” of the facility to best prepare mariners for the operation of CTVs.

University of Maryland – $398,211.00 
Prince George’s County

Project Description

The University of Maryland will develop and implement a new graduate course, Offshore Wind Energy Fundamentals, at the University of Maryland at College Park. The course will consist of five major topic areas related to offshore wind energy: (1) Wind, Waves and Aeromechanics, (2) Structures, Fabrication and Installation, (3) Electrical Generation, Controls and Distribution, (4) Environment, Finances and Levelized Cost of Energy, and (5) Operations and Maintenance. 

The development of the course curriculum will result in developing and implementing one or more Massive Open Online Courses based on the topics from the Offshore Wind Energy Fundamentals course, made available for free. The intention of this pilot program will be to establish a four course Maryland Applied Graduate Engineering certificate program in Offshore Wind Energy at the University of Maryland.

Arcon Training Center– $400,000.00 
Wicomico County

Project Description

Arcon Training Center (Arcon) will expand its existing Global Wind Organization (GWO) Basic Technical Training (BTT) program. Through grant funding Arcon intends to retain their BTT Trainer and offer full tuition coverage for up to 60 students over the 2 year life of the grant while conducting the maintenance of the specialized equipment needed for the BTT Mechanical, Electrical, and Hydraulics modules.

For more information about the MEA’s offshore wind supply chain development efforts, please visit MEA’s website or the recently launched Maryland Offshore Wind website.

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