New Jersey Targets 11 GW of Offshore Wind by 2040, Focuses on Job Creation

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a new executive order on 21 September, increasing the state’s offshore wind target for 2040 from the current 7.5 GW to 11 GW. Together with signing off the new offshore wind goal, the Governor also announced the release of two reports focused on the creation of green jobs in New Jersey.

The Executive Order (No. 307) to raise the state’s current offshore wind target also directs the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to study the feasibility of increasing the target further.

Murphy had set the 7.5 GW target in 2019 with an aim for New Jersey to reach this by 2035.

Now, the 2035 target has been dropped and replaced by the 11 GW goal for 2040 that will be implemented through the New Jersey Offshore Wind Economic Development Act (OWEDA), with the Board of Public Utilities (BPU), the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Economic Development Authority (EDA), and other state agencies responsible for taking all necessary actions to implement OWEDA and meet the new goal.

The Governor also announced two new reports that will support boosting job creation in the offshore wind and the wider clean energy sectors.

One of the two new reports now released in the state the Green Jobs for a Sustainable Future report, created by the New Jersey Council on the Green Economy in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy.

In addition to introducing the Council’s report, Governor Murphy also announced the release of an Offshore Wind jobs analysis and highlighted USD 10 million in new investments.

“Extreme weather events and severe flooding across the country leave no room for doubt – the effects of climate change are becoming more impactful and more aggressive, and we must do the same”, Governor Murphy said.

“Our renewed and strengthened commitment to offshore wind development testifies to my Administration’s understanding that, regardless of our impressive successes to date, there is always more that we can do to make New Jersey more sustainable while further advancing the state’s economic vitality. Indeed, the groundbreaking report prepared under the aegis of the Council of the Green Economy proves, now more than ever, that environmental health and economic health are inextricably connected”.

New Jersey has already procured a significant amount of offshore wind power and is in the process of securing further 1,200 MW and procuring advanced transmission system solutions to connect this offshore wind capacity to the mainland.

In 2019, the state awarded the largest single offshore wind project in the country to Ørsted’s 1,100 MW Ocean Wind project to be built 15 miles off the coast of Atlantic City.

Last year, New Jersey awarded the largest combined offshore wind capacity of 2,658 MW to EDF/Shell’s Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind and Ørsted’s Ocean Wind II projects, bringing the state’s total capacity to over 3,700 MW.

Follow offshoreWIND.biz on: