The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced on Friday that it has selected Ocean Wind, an offshore wind energy project proposed by Orsted in partnership with Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), to develop a 1.1-gigawatt wind farm 15 miles off the coast of Atlantic City. Upon its expected completion in 2024, Ocean Wind is projected to provide electricity sufficient to power some 500,000 residences in New Jersey.
The selection followed the state’s first solicitation for offshore wind power. Construction is expected to begin early in the next decade.
Orsted, a Danish company whose affiliate Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind is in the permitting process for the South Fork Wind Farm, a 15-turbine installation to be constructed approximately 35 miles east of Montauk, will work with PSEG’s non-utility affiliates, which will provide energy management services and potential lease of land for use in
the project development and execution phase, according to a statement issued on Friday.
Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey has set a goal of supplying more than 1.5 million residences with offshore wind power by 2030. Orsted said in Friday’s statement that Ocean Wind is expected to create more than 3,000 direct jobs annually through development and a three-year span of construction.
Thomas Brostrom, chief executive officer of Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind, said in the statement that the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ announcement “firmly establishes a fast-growing global industry in New Jersey, which will create jobs and a supply chain in the state. Ocean Wind will ensure that the state and its residents not only benefit from clean, renewable power, but that they reap the rewards of being an early player in the offshore wind industry as it grows in the U.S.”
Orsted plans to establish an operation and maintenance base in Atlantic City that will provide permanent jobs during the project’s life span.