New Jersey should assess opportunities to build additional offshore wind capacity beyond the 3500MW by 2030 target, according to the state’s draft energy master plan that sets a strategy to meet a 100% clean power goal by 2050.
The draft said the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities should establish milestones and goals in the near term to 2035 and 2050 to determine how much of the state’s energy demand should come from offshore wind.
It added that US Department of Energy estimates put the potential for offshore wind off New Jersey at 12.5GW.
Training programmes will also be needed to support the growth of the state’s offshore sector, the plan said.
A Wind Institute will be set up to help develop and host such training programmes, and a Clean Energy Jobs Training initiative established.
Support will also be needed to develop port infrastructure in the state needed for offshore wind, while inter-regional cooperation with New York, Delaware and other states will be critical to this development, the plan added.
The acceleration of other renewables technologies, mainly solar and biopower, will also be needed to meet the 2050 goal, the report said.
Goals and milestones for these technologies should therefore be set.
It also noted that mechanisms must be developed to achieve goals of 600MW of energy storage by 2021 and 2GW by 2030. The state currently has 477MW of storage.
The draft energy master plan also includes the establishment of a 50% renewable portfolio standard by 2030 and calls for modelling to find ways to achieve the 2050 goal at least cost.
US Business Network for Offshore Wind chief executive Liz Burdock (pictured) welcomed the plan.
She said: “We are particularly interested in the expansion of the Clean Energy Job Training program and the establishment of the Wind Institute, and will be working with our Network members and the New Jersey planning and environmental community to attend the public meetings and submit testimony on this ambitious program.
“Combined with the NJ Offshore Wind Strategic Plan draft plan due in September and the state’s first offshore wind solicitation award later this month, the draft EMP demonstrates New Jersey’s short-term and long-term planning and commitment to offshore wind energy.”