The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) opted for Ocean Wind, an offshore wind energy project proposed by Ørsted with support from Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), to negotiate a 20-year offshore wind renewable energy credit (OREC) for an offshore wind farm with a capacity of 1,100MW.
Specifically, Ocean Wind will be New Jersey’s first large-scale offshore wind farm. It will also be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. to exceed 1GW. Subject to Ørsted’s final investment decision, the wind farm is expected to be completed by 2024.
The chosen company is to cooperate with PSEG’s non-utility affiliates which will provide land for the project and energy management services. PSEG, which serves 2.2 million electricity customers in New Jersey, has an option to become an equity investor in the Ocean Wind project.
More than half a million homes, located in New Jersey are to be supplied. Meanwhile, the project will create more than 3,000 direct jobs annually through development and the three-year construction cycle. Ørsted is also proceeding with plans to establish an operations and maintenance base in Atlantic City that will provide jobs during the 25+ years lifespan of the project.
In light of this selection, Ørsted has secured a US offshore wind build-out portfolio with a total capacity of approx. 2GW to be completed between 2022 to 2024. Ørsted will be able to optimize construction and operations across the portfolio as well as inside the clusters:
Mid-Atlantic cluster: Ocean Wind (1,100MW) will deliver power to New Jersey. Expected commissioning by 2024. Skipjack (120MW) will deliver power to Maryland. Expected commissioning by 2022.
North-East cluster (owned 50-50 with Eversource): Revolution Wind (704MW) will deliver power to Rhode Island (400MW) and Connecticut (304MW). Expected commissioning by 2023. South Fork (130MW) will deliver power to Long Island, New York. Expected commissioning by 2022.
Martin Neubert, Executive Vice President and CEO of Ørsted Offshore, commented that
Ocean Wind, which will be the first offshore wind farm in the US to cross the 1GW mark, will contribute significantly to meeting Governor Murphy’s ambitious renewable energy goals.
