US Wind, Inc., the Baltimore-based company developing what will ultimately be the first utility-scale offshore wind energy project in the United States, has selected two Baltimore firms for a range of specialized services related to the fabrication and installation of a meteorological tower necessary for environment activity monitoring.
Strum Contracting Company (SCC), a small and minority-owned full-service provider of steel, welding services and light fabrication products, will provide welding services for the installation of the meteorological tower. The tower is comprised of an intricate steel lattice construction with sensors located at the top of the structure which are used to collect information about the environment (wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, and other environmental factors. The company will also be providing welding services in support of improvements to the port of Baltimore, necessary to sustain the infrastructure for the increased maritime business activity generated by the Offshore Wind project.
Strum Contracting shall also provide quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) services of the steel foundation fabrication activity, to ensure construction and welding of the structure is of the highest level and in accordance with the highest US industry standards.
Strum Contracting has provided welding services for large infrastructure projects over the last 30 years throughout the state and region to include: excavation, bridge remediation, beam-end fabrication and repairs, structural steel repairs and the welding of steel pipes, water, and sewer and steam lines. Major projects undertaken by this MBE include, but not limited to, the modernization of the Bay Bridge, Hatem Bridge and Harbor Tunnel. SCC is currently engaged in the repairs and reconstruction of the Rt. 50/Severn River Bridge and is accomplishing welding services on various bridges in Cecil County, as well as projects within the I-695 and I-895 corridors.
US Wind, Inc. also announces that it has contracted Baltimore-based Maritime Applied Physics Corporation (MAPC) for the procurement and installation of instrumentation and power equipment for the meteorological tower.
MAPC is an employee-owned research and development company best known for its advanced hulls, unmanned marine and land vehicles, and motion compensated land, air, and marine vehicle launch and recovery systems. The data collected through this equipment will be used for the final design, financing and a performance warranty of the wind farm. MAPC will procure and install sensors to be placed on the steel lattice meteorological tower for wind measurement, wind direction, air temperature, air pressure, precipitation, relative humidity, lightning detection, and bat detection. In addition, an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) will be used to measure water current velocities. MAPC will be also responsible for the Collision Avoidance Equipment and the Power System.
US Wind is the leading offshore wind developer in the US, with offshore wind leases in Maryland and New Jersey, and sole developer of interest in South Carolina. US Wind was approved to receive offshore renewable energy credits (ORECs) on May 17, 2017. The project, involving the placement of 32 wind turbines at a distance of 17 miles from the Ocean City shoreline, (as far east in its federally designated wind energy area as possible) will have a power output of approximately 250 Megawatt (MW) of energy and create over 7,000 jobs during the development, construction and operating phases, as well as an investment of $1.4 billion and an in-state economic impact of $1.35 billion.
