As state BPU mulls three wind-farm projects, feds move to gauge industry interest in building a regional transmission system
Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight
The federal government wants to gauge the level of interest in developing a regional wind-power transmission system off the coasts of New Jersey and New York, a proposal kicked around in the past but never seriously pursued.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced late Monday it will publish a “request for competitive interest’’ in building a transmission line after a company, Anbaric Development Partners, LLC, requested a right-of-way to build a 185-nautical mile submarine version of such a system offshore.
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The announcement comes as the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is scheduled Friday to decide which of three developers, or a combination thereof, will build up to 1,100 megawatts — and possibly more — of wind farms off the Jersey coast.
The action by the state board is significant in that it would mark the first approval of any offshore-wind capacity in New Jersey, a top priority of the administration of Gov. Phil Murphy, which aims to develop 3,500 megawatts of offshore-wind energy by 2030. The BPU expects to award additional contracts of 1,200 megawatts of capacity in additional solicitations in 2020 and 2022.
The three developers vying to build offshore wind farms are: Ørsted North America, a Danish developer proposing a project 15 miles off of Atlantic City; EDF Renewables/Shell New Energies, a French company seeking to develop a wind farm about eight miles north of there; and Equinor, a Norwegian firm pushing to build wind turbines 20 miles off the coast of Monmouth County.
Interest in future of wind power grows
There is intense interest in the BPU’s decision for many reasons, including whether it signals a major step forward in the governor’s goal to establish New Jersey as the pioneering hub of an emerging offshore-wind sector as states along the eastern seaboard race to develop wind farms. Only one small project is currently operating off Block Island in Rhode Island.
In recent days, the anticipation over which projects will be selected has led to speculation among clean-energy advocates that the state may expand the solicitation beyond 1,100 megawatts — a move that would allow the agency to award projects to more than a single developer.
