An additional 6GW of offshore wind development for the US mid-Atlantic state of Maryland by 2031 could generate over $5bn in ratepayer savings and $24bn in environmental benefits while adding thousands of jobs and driving down sector costs to $40/MWh, according to a recent report.

The study, Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Offshore Wind Energy Development, commissioned by environmental organisation Chesapeake Climate Action Now, investigated the impact of building additional offshore wind capacity on top of the roughly 2GW the state has already procured from majority Italian-owned US Wind and Denmark’s Orsted.