Long-vacant Baltimore waterfront site to become cable-manufacturing facility

A cable-manufacturing facility has officially bought a 38-acre site on the Patapsco River in South Baltimore, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs and support the demand for renewable energy.

It had been vacant for about 20 years , but was most recently a petroleum terminal (BP Amoco) and later asphalt refinery/terminal.

Hellenic Cables Americas (part of Belgium-based Cenergy Holdings) had been working to acquire the property, at the tip of Asiatic Avenue (called Fishing Point) in Wagner's Point.

The company got a federal tax credit of up to $58 million to build the facility, which will produce underwater and underground cables for offshore wind and grid modernization uses.

Cenergy is promising that the former petroleum/asphalt site - which required environmental remediation - will now be producing "high-tech products made in a modern, clean, low-noise, ultra-low-emissions environment."

Gov. Wes Moore announced the purchase today and praised it for helping the state "build a cleaner, greener, and more equitable future for all."

He said:

Climate justice is economic justice. We don’t have to choose between a green economy and a growing economy—we can, and we will, choose both.

Hellenic expects to hire about 200 people for trades-related jobs while it builds the $300 million facility.

The site will support about 120 new manufacturing jobs when it's fully operational, which is expected to be toward the end of 2026.

This will also indirectly support 250 jobs, said Moore's administration.

Cenergy Senior Executive Thanasis Molokotos said in a statement that the company is "excited to be part of Maryland’s expanding role in building a robust U.S. based supply chain for power transmission."

Hellenic Cables "is one of the largest cable producers in Europe, manufacturing power and telecom cables as well as submarine cables," according to Cenergy.