Three offshore wind projects submitted for New Jersey's upcoming tender (US)

Three new offshore wind projects, to be developed off the coast of the US State of New Jersey have been submitted to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) for approval under the state’s third offshore wind solicitation.

The Chicago-based company Invenergy and the New York-based energyRE, through their Leading Light Wind joint venture, have submitted a plan to the NJBPU to develop the up to 2.4 GW Leading Light Wind offshore wind project, which is set to be built 64 km off the coast of New Jersey. It will comprise 100 turbines, enough to provide electricity for 1 million American households, and could offset up to 4 MtCO₂/year.

Community Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Germany’s RWE and National Grid Ventures, has submitted its own plan to the NJBPU to develop up to 1.3 GW of new offshore wind capacity in New Jersey. The project could generate enough electricity to power more than 500,000 households. Community Offshore Wind expects the project to reduce New Jersey’s electric system GHG emissions by 52 Mt over its lifetime.

In addition, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a 50:50 joint venture between Shell New Energies US and EDF Renewables, has also submitted a proposal to the NJBPU. The capacity of the proposed project has not yet been communicated. The joint venture already has a certificate in place for its 1.5 GW Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1, which was selected by the board in June 2021.

These projects are expected to help the State of New Jersey reach its goal of building 11 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040. At the federal level, the United States target 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 15 GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035 (only 42 MW were operational at the end of 2021).