New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities on Tuesday officially opened a fourth round of bids for new offshore wind projects that could add from 1.2 to 4 gigawatts of clean energy to the state’s portfolio. But for all the milestones, the vote nonetheless also came amid a whirlwind of challenges confronting the fledgling industry.
“Certainly offshore wind is really at an inflection point right now,” said Kris Ohleth, a longtime industry analyst. She cited three New York projects that recently collapsed due to supply chain and inflation problems and are now up for rebids. Meanwhile, New Jersey’s Atlantic Shores reportedly may ask to rebid its wind farm contract as well.
“If we are going to build offshore wind in a responsible and cost-effective manner, then we need to have protections for the state of New Jersey,” Oleth said. “There’s a lot of interesting opportunities and a lot of potential competition, which I think is really what the state wants — and what we want as ratepayers.”
Gov. Phil Murphy and his administration has set a target of 11 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2040. But that’s became a much tougher target after developer Ørsted canceled the state’s first two wind farm projects last October. To compensate, the Board of Public Utilities has sped up requests for new bids. And this fourth solicitation bakes in some extra protections, like a $50,000-per-megawatt security fee and another $100 million performance guarantee.
“There’s an additional $100 million letter of credit for any potential rebids — and that’s all to ensure the project completion,” said Christine Guhl-Sadovy, the BPU president. “We see it as incentives to ensure that the projects are staying on track.”
Atlantic Shores did not respond to requests for comment on its possible rebid. That possibility is a contentious topic for eight mayors along New Jersey’s coast — including all of Long Beach Island — who have been critical of the state’s wind energy push and now the possibility of a new bid.
“I have never heard — nor have any of the other towns ever heard — of why they’re allowing somebody to come back and rebid,” says Long Beach Township Mayor Joseph Mancini.
He and the other mayors wrote the BPU that the project will harm tourism in their communities, citing a consultant’s report that projected Atlantic Shores’ 157 turbines about nine miles offshore could cost the towns $668 million in lost jobs and tax dollars.
The BPU in January approved two additional wind farms — Attentive and Leading Light — but they’re still months away from getting required permits and won’t come online until the 2030s. Federal officials plan to streamline regulations to ease the application process.
The latest round of bids are due July 10.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correctly identify Christine Guhl-Sadovy, the president of New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities and Joseph Mancini, mayor of Long Beach Township.
