wind.letters
- Jul 2, 2021
- 2 min read

NJ Board of Public Utilities Awarded Two Large Wind Farm Projects

Updated: Jul 7, 2021

On June 30th, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) awarded two new large wind farms with a combined capacity of 2,658 MW to two developers Ørsted and EDF/Shell, moving the state of New Jersey forward towards its 2035 target of 7.5 GW of offshore wind power. The anonymous vote came two years after the first offshore wind farm - Ocean Wind - had been awarded to Ørsted by the NJBPU in June 2019 but is still waiting for final approval by the Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM).

Both new projects are adjacently located off the shores of Atlantic City, being flanked in the North by the NY/NJ call area (Hudson South), where new lease areas were just proposed in mid-June, and in the South by the Delaware project Garden State Offshore Energy.

The award by the utilities company happens parallel to the ongoing BOEM approval process. The bureau is now reviewing three projects to be built at the New Jersey coast.

The NJBPU also announced to open a 3rd solicitation for leases by 2022 or sooner adding another 1000-2000 MW of offshore wind power to the NJ coast.

When Governor Phil Murphy presented the two awards, he emphasized the expected impact on the NJ job market with 7,000 full and part time jobs, lasting short term and long term. “By leveraging a whole-of-government approach and the strengths of our state, this award ensures that our investment in clean energy is also an investment in our communities, and will generate good-paying, union jobs and bring valuable investments to New Jersey. Today’s award, which is the nation’s largest combined award to date, further solidifies New Jersey as an offshore wind supply chain hub and leader in the offshore wind industry in the United States.”

According to the press release, project developers are required to contribute $10,000 per MW to fund research initiatives and wildlife and fishery monitoring in the region – totaling $26 million that will be administered by NJBPU and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection through a robust stakeholder process.

Specs:

1. Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind farm

Developer: EDF/Shell

Capacity: 1,510 MW (will power 637,000 homes)

Nacelles: MHI Vestas (Developer and state of NJ will built an assembly facility at New Jersey wind port)

Foundation manufacturing: Port of Paulsboro

Impact for rate payers (after operation starts in 2027/28):

$2.21/ month for residential customers

$20.81 for commercial customers

$172.25 for industrial customers

Avoided greenhouse emissions: 2.19 million tons

Extras: Green hydrogen pilot facility