Sept 5 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration

on Thursday announced final approval of a wind project off the

coast of Maryland, bringing the U.S. halfway to its goal of

deploying 30 gigawatts of the clean energy technology by 2030.

The project is the 10th approved by Biden's Interior

Department. He has made offshore wind a cornerstone of his

climate change agenda.

The Maryland Offshore Wind Project, which is being developed

by US Wind, could one day generate enough electricity to power

718,000 homes, Interior said in a statement. The lease area is

about 9 nautical miles off the coasts of Maryland and Delaware.

US Wind is a subsidiary of Renexia SpA, the renewable

development arm of Italian infrastructure firm Toto Holding.

Interior and White House officials celebrated the milestone

of permitting 15 gigawatts of offshore wind, half the capacity

the administration in 2021 said it wanted to have in the water

by 2030.

Few in the industry expect that goal to be met, citing a

flurry of setbacks including soaring costs and supply chain

disruptions that have led to project delays and cancellations.

"We never thought this exercise would be easy or smooth

sailing," Liz Klein, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy

Management, said on a call with reporters, adding the

administration would keep working toward its goal.

The project will have 114 wind turbines and is expected to

be brought online in phases.