Offshore wind company Ørsted announced Wednesday the successful completion of the initial phase of Maryland’s first offshore wind staging center at Tradepoint Atlantic, the 3,300-acre global logistics center in Baltimore County.
Ørsted has now completed $13.2 million in port infrastructure upgrades establishing both a lift-on/lift-off and roll-on/roll-off berth within Tradepoint Atlantic’s port facility for handling offshore wind components such as wind turbine blades, foundations, nacelles, and towers. This includes strengthening the ground bearing capacity at the port to allow heavy-lift cranes and specialized transporters to move wind turbine components, some weighing as much as 2,000 tons, from ships onto the site. Ørsted provided funding to drive hundreds of heavy steel pilings over 150 feet into the ground so that these heavy components can be safely handled.
Ørsted and Tradepoint Atlantic are now beginning preparations for the second phase of the staging center, which is development of 50 additional acres of land for the laydown, storage, and assembly of offshore wind components. This new phase represents a critical step in Ørsted’s commitment to invest in a steel fabrication plant in Maryland, and also lays the groundwork for a potential investment in steel manufacturing facilities at Tradepoint.
A staging area for the windmill project over 250 miles from the jobsite? That makes a whole lot of sense. The port facilities on the Delaware River at Wilmington would be 150 miles closer. Or, for the amount of money they spent in Baltimore County they could have built a whole new port facility in New Jersey only 50 miles from the project. But , who cares, you and I are paying for this turkey, not them.
What happens when the wind doesn’t blow
Shhh, you’re not supposed to ask that.
So what happens when it gets cold. Just ask Texas
So if the one ae Chesapeake College, which was on land and had an entire sudent body and Staff available for daily maintenance became so cost inefficient and overly non sustainable and wound up not ever recovering its own cost of erection from its power output and had to be finally taken down without any recyclability, why would anyone consider doing the same thing offshore in a saltwater environment with very limited maintenance possibilities?
The answer, my friend, is blowing’ in the wind, because the “project” will generate millions in congressional pocket linings, and nothing in electrical savings for anyone.
Think on your own, my friend.