New Jersey Accelerates Timeline for Fifth Offshore Wind Solicitation

May 29, 2024, by Adnan Memija

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) is advancing the state’s fifth offshore wind solicitation, commencing the round more than a year ahead of its original timeline.

The state’s Board of Public Utilities announced on 28 May that it is moving up the next solicitation for additional offshore wind projects from the third quarter of 2026 to the second quarter of 2025.

“Offshore wind development remains a once-in-a-generation opportunity that will result in significant economic and environmental benefits throughout the Garden State,” said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

“At this pivotal inflection point for the industry both in New Jersey and across the nation, it’s critical that we remain committed to delivering on the promise of thousands of family-sustaining, union jobs and cleaner air for generations to come.”

So far, New Jersey held three auctions for offshore wind projects.

In 2019, the Garden State awarded the largest single offshore wind project in the country to Ørsted’s 1.1 GW Ocean Wind which the developer canceled due to additional supplier delays impacting the project schedule.

In 2021, the second solicitation resulted in the largest combined award of 2.6 GW of offshore wind capacity to EDF/Shell’s Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind and Ørsted’s Ocean Wind 2 projects.

At the beginning of this year, the Board awarded two of New Jersey’s largest offshore wind projects to date, the 1,342 MW Attentive Energy Two project (developed by a joint venture between TotalEnergies and Corio Generation) and the 2,400 MW Leading Light Wind project (developed by Invenergy and energyRE).

The NJBPU recently announced the opening of the state’s fourth solicitation for 1.2 GW to 4 GW of offshore wind generation capacity. The application window remains open until 10 July.

The state also unveiled that it will pause on moving forward with the Second State Agreement Approach (SAA) for coordinated offshore wind transmission planning with regional grid operator PJM Interconnection (PJM) due to a new rule by federal energy regulators that could have an impact on planning and costs.