Baltimore County, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maryland, has applied for a USD 26 million federal grant to support infrastructure upgrades at the former Sparrows Point shipyard to accommodate assembly, fabrication and shipping for the offshore wind industry.
The grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation makes the case for the Wind Start intermodal transportation project on 15-acres of the Sparrows Point peninsula. Sparrows Point Shipyard LLC and their partner US Wind would upgrade piers and bulkheads, staging areas and ship-to-road access to support offshore wind development.
If the federal grant is approved, the Wind Start project could bring as many as 1,200 construction jobs and over 900 permanent jobs to the Sparrows Point peninsula, the county said in a statement.
The project could jump-start Baltimore County as the Atlantic hub for assembling and shipping the blades, towers, generators and cables necessary for offshore wind farms.
“It’s critical that we support sources of clean, renewable energy – for our health, to protect our fragile environment and increase energy independence. From an economic standpoint, Baltimore County can lead the way as the center for a new clean energy industry that builds, assembles and distributes offshore wind products. We’re talking new jobs, new investment and leadership in a new American industry,” said Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.
The Baltimore County Department of Economic and Workforce Development submitted the application for the 2016 Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to the U.S. Department of Transportation.