US regional grid operator PJM Interconnection on behalf of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has opened an 120-day solicitation window for developers to submit potential transmission solutions that would help deliver offshore wind energy to the existing network.
The solicitation is the result of a request by NJBPU to incorporate the US state’s offshore wind public policy goals into PJM’s regional transmission planning process through a pathway known as the ‘State Agreement Approach’.
PJM will manage the solicitation, which will enable NJBPU staff to evaluate a wide array of ready-to-build transmission options that otherwise may not have been available at this stage of offshore wind development.
Specifically, the solicitation is seeking potential options for four interrelated components of an open access offshore wind transmission solution.
These include: upgrades to the existing grid to facilitate the offshore wind injections; an extension of the onshore transmission grid closer to offshore wind locations; optimal landfall approaches to reduce environmental impacts, and any necessary offshore substations; and interconnections between offshore substations, sometimes called a transmission “backbone,” to provide benefits of a networked offshore grid.
After the solicitation window closes on 13 August, NJBPU and PJM will evaluate all submissions to determine which, if any, combination of project proposals can meet the state’s offshore wind policy goals.
NJBPU president Joseph Fiordaliso said: “New Jersey is the first and only state to utilise this approach with PJM, and we are pleased to see it moving forward smoothly as we work toward Governor Murphy’s goal of 100% clean energy by 2050.
“Through this process, we are leveraging PJM’s transmission planning expertise to ensure we achieve our offshore wind goals in an economically efficient, environmentally sensitive, and timely manner.
“This once-in-a-generation opportunity will establish New Jersey as the epicenter of a burgeoning new industry that can provide tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, reduced emissions, and over a billion dollars in economic benefits when we need it most.”
PJM president and chief executive Manu Asthana said: “We are pleased to see PJM’s competitive process employed to solicit innovative transmission solutions that can help advance New Jersey’s public policy objectives reliably, efficiently and economically.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (pictured) has set a 7.5GW goal by 2035 for offshore wind.