Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, LLC has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Rutgers University to advance ocean research and monitoring that will support offshore wind development off the coast of New Jersey.
The five-year cooperative agreement term will initiate this summer and help to bolster on-going efforts at the Rutgers Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RUCOOL).
Together, Atlantic Shores and RUCOOL will focus on advancing approaches to collecting and analyzing meteorological, oceanographic and marine bioacoustic data. The work will build upon efforts RUCOOL is already undertaking in partnership with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU).
“Rutgers University is a leader in marine science research, and Atlantic Shores is committed to increasing data collection that will support the sustainability of the emerging offshore wind industry in New Jersey,” said Chris Hart, President and Managing Director of Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind.
“We look forward to advancing their research efforts by collaborating early on as our Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind portfolio gets off the ground.”
Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind is a 50/50 joint venture between EDF Renewables North America and Shell New Energies US, LLC with an OREC application currently under consideration by the NJBPU.
The joint venture plans to build multiple projects over the next decade within their 183,000 acre lease area off the coast of New Jersey, to help the state meet its goal of generating 3.5 GW of renewable energy by 2030. In total, Atlantic Shores’ lease area has the potential to generate 2.5GW of wind energy.
A decision on which developer will be awarded a state contract to build the first offshore wind farm in New Jersey is expected this summer. Atlantic Shores plans to move forward with data collection and research in partnership with RUCOOL regardless of the outcome of the NJBPU decision.