The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has published a report detailing progress towards the US state’s 2030 offshore wind ambitions.
The report’s release coincides with the one year anniversary of Governor Murphy’s order to implement the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act.
“We have gone from having no programme on the day the Governor was inaugurated 55 weeks ago, to developing a cutting-edge offshore wind programme with a goal of 3500MW of offshore wind energy by 2030,” said NJBPU president Joseph Fiordaliso.
New Jersey Economic Development Authority chief executive Tim Sullivan said: “Thanks to Governor Murphy’s vision, we are working with partners across State government to build a deeper understanding of the offshore wind project life cycle, supply chain, and workforce requirements.
“This will pave the way for the thousands of good-paying job opportunities and other economic benefits the state’s investment in this innovative sector will bring.”
Since the signing of the executive order, the board has solicited bids for the first 1.1GW of offshore wind, the largest state solicitation to date.
The governor has also asked the board to consider additional 1.2GW of solicitations in 2020 and 2022 as part of the 3.5GW goal.
Board staff are reviewing the applications for 1.1GW and expect to announce an award at the end of June.
The board also approved an offshore wind funding mechanism, the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate and board staff have begun the process of developing an offshore wind strategic plan.