The state Board of Public Utilities has awarded contracts for two new wind energy projects off the New Jersey Coast.
The board at its Jan. 24 meeting announced awards to Leading Light Wind for 2.4 gigawatts of capacity and to Attentive Energy for approximately 1.3 gigawatts of capacity. Both projects have estimated completion dates in 2031.
Leading Light Wind’s project will be located about 47 miles off the coast of Atlantic City. Leading Light is a U.S. company and the first such entity to be awarded a utility-scale wind farm project.
Attentive Energy is a joint venture of a French company, TotalEnergies, and Corio Generation, an offshore wind company headquartered in London. Its project, called Attentive Energy Two, will be located about 40 miles off the coast of Seaside Heights.
The two procurements together come close to meeting the goal of 4 gigawatts of capacity that was set for the third-round solicitation of lease bids. The state now has 5.2 gigawatts of capacity under contract as it continues to move toward the stated 2040 goal of 11 gigawatts from offshore wind power.
The awards were the first since the state lost 2.2 gigawatts of projected capacity after the Danish firm Orsted withdrew from two wind farm commitments off the southern Jersey coast. Gov. Phil Murphy has also accelerated the fourth solicitation, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2024, with additional awards in 2025.
The BPU said that both winning vendors have agreed to aid in the development of a tower manufacturer at the New Jersey Wind Port, located in Salem County. They both also agreed to source monopiles, the most commonly used foundation for offshore wind turbines, from an EEW Group facility at the Port of Paulsboro. EEW Group is a German manufacturing company specializing in the production of pipes and pipe components.
BPU Commissioner Zenon Christodoulou said, “We cannot kick the can down the road any longer.” He added that “the cost of inaction is incalculable.”
Christodoulou spoke of proper investment and innovation as a way to “chart a course into the unknown.” His comment spoke to the area of greatest criticism of the offshore wind initiative in the Garden State, the level of unknowns.
Opponents of the effort have criticized the speed with which decisions are being made, arguing that a proper consideration of the impact of the effort on the environment and the economy has not been done.
The new projects are expected to face some of the same opposition and willingness to litigate as Orsted confronted further down the coastline. The offshore wind initiative has been linked by its opponents to a sharp rise in sea mammal fatalities, negative impacts on the commercial fishing industry, potential navigation difficulties and unknown effects on electricity ratepayers.
To help counter the opposition, the New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance was recently established as a unifying voice and advocate for the wind energy industry.
Both companies that received the awards of new lease areas are expected to contribute over $100 million each to community benefits programs.
It is still unknown what will happen with Orsted’s lease areas off the coast of Cape May County, but it seems unlikely they will sit dormant as the state accelerates its offshore wind agenda in advance of the end of Murphy’s second term.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
