New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced the offshore wind solicitation schedule to meet the 7,500 MW offshore wind goal by 2035. This will generate enough electricity to power more than 3.2 million homes and meet 50% of the state’s electric power need.
The proposed schedule calls for the next 1,200 MW solicitation to be opened by September 2020, with an award made by second quarter of 2021.
The proposed projects are expected to deliver clean, renewable energy generation needed to meet the State’s goals of 50% renewable energy by 2030 and a 100% clean energy economy by 2050.
Reaching 7,500 MW will also support an offshore wind industry that will generate billions of dollars in investments in New Jersey and create thousands of jobs.
In this regard, Murphy called upon the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to take all necessary actions to implement the schedule.
Several months ago, I committed the State of New Jersey to 7,500 MW of offshore wind by 2035, as a critical component of achieving 100 percent clean energy by 2050. By announcing this planned solicitation schedule, we are demonstrating to our partners in industry and labor that we are committed to implementing this process in a thoughtful way that ensures economic growth for the New Jersey,
…said Governor Murphy.
To be responsive to the evolving market, the schedule has been developed to provide flexibility in terms of the amount being procured with each solicitation and the exact timeline.
In January 2018, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 8, which directed NJBPU to fully implement the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act and begin the process of moving the state toward a goal of 3,500 MW of offshore wind by the year 2030.
In response, New Jersey Board Public Utilities issued a solicitation for 1,100 MW of offshore wind and awarded Ørsted with the largest single state contract in June 2019.
Ørsted expects this first project to be operational by 2024.
