Offshore Wind in New Jersey
New Jersey’s Offshore Wind Status
Under Governor Murphy’s direction, New Jersey has set an ambitious goal of generating 11 gigawatts (GW) of electricity through offshore wind energy by the year 2040. This commitment is a pivotal element of the State’s Energy Master Plan, which aims to achieve a complete transition to 100 percent clean energy by 2050.
New Jersey’s Offshore Wind Solicitation Schedule
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has outlined a schedule to award 11 gigawatts of offshore wind. As of May 2024, three solicitations for offshore wind have been awarded and the State has continued to push for an accelerated solicitation schedule. The application window for fourth solicitation is currently open, with an anticipated award date in Q4 of 2024, while the opening of the fifth solicitation is now projected for Q2 2025, rather than Q3 2026.
*Projects awarded but canceled by developer.
New Jersey’s Offshore Wind Developers
As of 2024, New Jersey has three offshore wind farms in development. This includes Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1, a joint venture partnership between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF Renewables North America, Leading Light Wind, a partnership between lead developer Invenergy and New York-based co-developer energyRe and Attentive Energy Two, a joint venture of TotalEnergies and Corio Generation. Find out more about these projects and the developers below.
- Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind: A joint venture partnership between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF Renewables North America, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1 will be located approximately 10-20 miles off the coast of New Jersey between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light. This 1,510 MW project will power up to 700,000 New Jersey homes. Atlantic Shores is committed to investing in new manufacturing facilities and utilization of existing facilities at the Port of Paulsboro. Learn more about the project here.
- Leading Light Wind: A joint partnership between lead developer Invenergy and New York based co-developer energyRe, Leading Light Wind is the largest competitively awarded offshore wind project to date in the United States and will be located off the coast of South Jersey. Once completed, Leading Light Wind will power up to one million New Jersey homes. Learn more about the project here.
- Attentive Energy Two: A joint venture of TotalEnergies and Corio Generation, Attentive Energy Two will be located off the coast of Sea Girt, New Jersey. Once completed, Attentive Energy Two will power more than 650,000 New Jersey homes. This project will include further investment in the New Jersey Wind Port’s wind tower manufacturing facility, as well as a monopile facility in Paulsboro, currently under development by EEW. Learn more about the project here.
As you can see, the offshore wind industry is alive and well in New Jersey, with projects continuing to progress, with are many opportunities for applicants and awardees to participate via funding through the Ocean Wind Pro-NJ Grantor Trust. The Trust encourages all businesses interested in entering the industry to register with the New Jersey Offshore Wind Supply Chain Registry to publicly indicate their interest and ability to supply components and services for U.S. East Coast offshore wind projects.