New Jersey regulators on June 30 awarded two project developers rights to 2,658 MW of offshore wind capacity, enough to power 1.15 million homes.
The Board of Public Utilities awarded 1,510 MW of capacity to the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project, from a joint venture of EDF Group subsidiary EDF Renewables Inc. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC subsidiary Shell New Energies US LLC; and 1,148 MW of capacity to the Ocean Wind II project from Ørsted A/S, according to an announcement.
In June 2019, the board awarded Ørsted rights to develop 1,100 MW of capacity for its Ocean Offshore Wind Farm, in which New Jersey-headquartered utility company Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. is now a 25% equity investor. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has set a target for New Jersey to build 7,500 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2035 to help the state reach carbon-free electricity generation by midcentury.
"Today's award, which is the nation's largest combined award to date, further solidifies New Jersey as an offshore wind supply chain hub and leader in the offshore wind industry in the U.S.," Murphy said in the announcement.
The developers committed to building a nacelle assembly facility at the New Jersey Wind Port. The Atlantic Shores project will team up with Vestas Wind Systems A/S to build its facility while Ocean Wind will partner with General Electric Co. The two projects will also use the Port of Paulsboro, N.J., for a foundation manufacturing facility.
"Additional benefits to the region include a green hydrogen pilot facility from Atlantic Shores and a truck electrification pilot project at Port Newark from Ocean Wind," the announcement said.
The board said it expects to open a third offshore wind solicitation for at least 1,200 MW in 2022.
A Bernstein analyst in a research note said, "We and the market had expected Ørsted to win in New Jersey, given that the auction had two participants. Today's results were positive and give further evidence that Ørsted's strategy of cherry-picking auctions in order to deliver returns can work."
Shell is also a 50% partner in the Mayflower Wind Offshore Project, which has been selected to supply electricity to electric distribution utilities in Massachusetts.