Original article:
New Jersey has the wind in its sails
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The Beacon
It’s Tuesday, July 13, and New Jersey is vying to be the state with the most offshore wind.
The Garden State is getting more offshore wind — enough to power 1.15 million homes. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted unanimously at the end of June to approve the state’s second offshore wind project, a decision that puts New Jersey just behind New York among states with the most approved offshore wind energy. Two developers, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind and Ocean Wind 2, a subsidiary of the Danish wind giant Ørsted, will produce 2,658 megawatts of power off the coast near Atlantic City.
It is the nation’s largest offshore wind project approved in the United States, officials said. Joseph Fiordaliso, the president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, said it was “an exciting day for New Jersey” and cited recent extreme weather events related to climate change as evidence that renewable energy must quickly expand.
The offshore wind project is expected to generate billions of dollars for New Jersey’s economy and create 7,000 jobs. As a part of the deal, the two development companies are also providing $26 million for wildlife research and fish monitoring in the area.
The new wind project is expected to come online by the end of this decade.
—Jena Brooker
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