Invenergy and energyRE’s Leading Light Wind project, which is one of two winners in New Jersey’s latest solicitation, will bring nearly $4bn in economic development benefits to the state.
The 2.4GW offshore wind project will create an estimated 7500 jobs and $3.7bn in anticipated economic development benefits for the state, said its developers.
These benefits include localising a wind turbine tower manufacturing facility in New Jersey and performing marshalling activities at the New Jersey Wind Port, the expansion of the EEW American Offshore Structures monopile manufacturing facility and development of an in-state operations and maintenance port.
“Invenergy, Leading Light Wind’s lead developer, is committed to cultivating American innovation and is optimistic that today’s decision will unlock future opportunities for the next wave of American companies in this important domestic industry,” said Wes Jacobs, Senior Project Director, Offshore Wind Development, Invenergy.
Liz Burdock, founder and CEO of Oceantic Network, said: “New Jersey reasserts its leadership in the US offshore wind sector with today’s 3.7GW commitment and securing new supply chain investments in towers, foundations, and secondary steel manufacturing.
“The US offshore wind market is entering a new phase of development; today’s action capitalises the state’s early investments in a coordinated transmission system, the New Jersey Wind Port, and the EEW monopile facility to accelerate development and position the state at the centre of the nation’s supply chain.”
New Jersey has awarded conditional offers to two offshore wind projects in its latest solicitation.
In addition to Leading Light Wind the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) awarded Corio Generation and TotalEnergies’ 1342MW Attentive Energy 2 project a contract.
Jonathan Cole, CEO of Corio Generation, said: “The award of this long-term contract is a great achievement for Attentive Energy and great news for the people of New Jersey.
“The Attentive Energy Two project will deliver clean, green energy to hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents and stimulate billions of dollars of regional investment.
“Added together, our Attentive Energy projects could deliver almost 3GW of renewable electricity to the Atlantic east coast, allowing Corio and our partners to make a milestone contribution to the United States’ transition to a secure, renewable and low-carbon energy future.”
Together, Leading Light Wind and Attentive Energy 2 will deliver 3.7GW of offshore wind in New Jersey’s offshore wind solicitation round.
The state now has more than 5.2GW contracted, against its 2040 target of 11GW.
Leading Light project received an award with a price of $112.50 per MWh.
Meanwhile, Attentive Energy 2 bid received a price of $131 per MWh.
Both projects are expected to enter operations in 2031, with Leading Light coming online in two 1200MW phases, with the second coming online in 2032.
Four projects were bid into the round, with Shell and EDF’s Atlantic Shores 1.5GW proposal not receiving an offer. RWE and National Grid also bid 1.3GW of capacity from their Community Offshore Wind project, but withdrew their bid in late December 2023.