Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, Attentive Energy Submit Bids in New Jersey’s Fourth Solicitation

July 11, 2024, by Adnan Memija

Attentive Energy and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind have submitted a proposal to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) in the state’s fourth offshore wind solicitation.

The NJBPU announced on 30 April the opening of the state’s fourth solicitation for 1.2 GW to 4 GW of offshore wind generation capacity. The application window remained open until 10 July.

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Shell and EDF Renewables, said that the “unmatched maturity” of Atlantic Shores Projects 1 and 2 make these projects “best positioned” to deliver reliable, renewable power to support New Jersey’s goal of achieving 100 per cent clean energy by 2035 and 11 GW of offshore wind installed by 2040.

Earlier this month, the 1,510 MW Atlantic Shores South Project 1 and the 1,327 MW Atlantic Shores South Project 2 received their Record of Decision from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), concluding the evaluation of their Construction and Operations Plan (COP).

Combined, these projects could generate more than 2.8 GW of electricity, enough to serve more than one million New Jersey homes.

Full federal and state permit approvals for both projects are expected by the end of the year.

In addition to an advanced permitting programme across both projects, Atlantic Shores Project 1 recently selected and started work with New Jersey-based infrastructure companies Riggs Distler to lead the Cardiff substation expansion programme and Creamer-Jingoli to engineer and design the export cable route running from landfall in Atlantic City to the electric grid point of interconnection in Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County.

“Our proposal serves to expand and enhance existing strategic partnerships while growing our portfolio of economic development initiatives across the Garden State. Working with our host community partners, we are keen to continue securing critical supply chain investments that will create great paying union jobs, support local workforce development, and contribute to economic prosperity across New Jersey,” said Joris Veldhoven, Chief Executive Officer, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind.

Attentive Energy, which has already secured an Offshore Renewable Energy Credit (OREC) contract in New Jersey for the Attentive Energy Two (AE2) project, announced on 10 July its plans for another project in the state. However, specifics about this new offshore wind farm were not disclosed.

In this new proposal, Attentive Energy said it brings forward a “consistent and holistic vision” prepared to build off the momentum and early successes of its AE2 project.

The company’s latest proposition is a joint venture between TotalEnergies, Corio Generation, and Rise Light & Power. On the other hand, the AE2 project, which has already been awarded, is a collaboration solely between TotalEnergies and Corio Generation.

So far, New Jersey held three auctions for offshore wind projects. Recently, NJBPU announced that it is advancing the state’s fifth offshore wind solicitation, commencing the round more than a year ahead of its original timeline.