The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities recently selected to fund Ocean Wind 2, a 1,148-MW offshore wind energy project proposed by the Danish company Ørsted. The agency also awarded Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind a contract to develop 1,410-MW of offshore wind capacity.
Ocean Wind 2 will develop the second section of the Ocean Wind federal lease area and will provide enough power for half a million New Jersey homes. The first Ocean Wind project, also under development by Ørsted, was awarded in 2019. It’s expected to come online in 2024, and is located 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey. (The second project will be located adjacent to the first).
As part of the project, Ørsted is contributing to an expansion for the EEW facility in Paulsboro, where monopiles, which are foundation supports for offshore wind turbines, are manufactured. That facility will be home to 500 full-time jobs and represents a $250 million investment into southern New Jersey. The project is also bringing a commitment from GE Renewables to locate one of the country’s first offshore wind nacelle assembly facilities in New Jersey. (This facility will assemble the nacelles for Ocean Wind 2 as well as other American offshore wind projects).
Overall, Ocean Wind 2 is expected to generate nearly $5 billion in net economic benefits for the state of New Jersey.
The Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind project will be located 10-20 miles off the coast of New Jersey between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light and will bring about $850 million in local economic benefits to the state, including a variety of investments in local communities.
Overall, New Jersey has the goal of supplying more than 3.2 million homes with offshore wind power by 2035.
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New Jersey moves forward with two offshore wind projects representing almost 3 GW of capacity
Photo, posted March 24, 2016, courtesy of TEIA via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.