Huge New Jersey offshore wind project approved for construction

Federal regulators gave a huge, contentious offshore wind project the green light to start construction off the coast of New Jersey.

Owned by Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a 50-50 venture by Shell and EDF Renewables, the project received approval of air permits from the Environmental Protection Agency and of construction and operation permits from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Tuesday.

The developer plans to install a total of about 200 wind turbines in federally owned waters between 10 and 20 miles off the Jersey shore. It’s also working with utilities to build several offshore substations and two undersea transmission lines that will connect the project to the grid near Atlantic City and farther north in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Construction on phase one of the recently approved project, known as Atlantic Shores South, is set to begin in 2025, and it could start sending power to the grid in 2028 or 2029, according to the developer. The second phase of the project was also approved, but there is no timeline for its construction yet.

If completed as planned, the project’s two phases will be able to deliver a total of 2.8 gigawatts of electricity to the grid, making it one of the largest clean energy projects in America. It will also be the first offshore wind array for New Jersey, a state banking on the power source in order to hit its clean energy goals.

Many East Coast states have limited land for wind and solar installations, so offshore wind is an attractive pathway for them to decarbonize. Its importance has been recognized at a federal level too: The Biden administration aims for the U.S. to build 30 gigawatts offshore wind capacity by 2030.

But the sector has hit a rough patch in recent years, and only about one-quarter of a gigawatt of offshore wind is installed today.

Projects up and down the East Coast have been canceled or delayed, in large part because of inflation, high interest rates, and slow-moving supply chains — all factors that contributed to the cancellation of a pair of New Jersey projects, planned by Danish energy giant Ørsted, last year. Offshore wind projects are also prone to delays given the extensive permitting process that spans various federal and state agencies. And even after projects clear the regulatory hurdles, lawsuits from opponents can still slow down or stop developments.

In fact, Atlantic Shores is already dealing with such opposition: Local group Save Long Beach Island has filed two lawsuits seeking to pause the project.

Bob Stern, the president of Save Long Beach Island, told Canary Media that the group represents about 10,000 community members opposed to the project and has five additional lawsuits in the works.

While Stern said he is not entirely opposed to offshore wind, he argued that the project is sited too close to shore and that the wind turbines would result in ​“a serious degradation of the way of life that people who come to this shore like to see.” Stern’s litany of concerns includes deaths and disruptions to the migration of endangered North Atlantic right whales and fears that the tourism and fishing economies could suffer, especially during the construction.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has stated that there are no known links between offshore wind development and the deaths of whales.

During construction, fishing and boating will be restricted in the lease area, but according to the developer, the restrictions will lift after completion. The wind turbines will be visible from parts of the Jersey shore, but it is unclear if tourism would be impacted.

Many environmental groups are in favor of the development. Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, said in a press release that the group is excited about the approval of Atlantic Shores South and that the project will help ​“fight climate change, create union jobs, and improve the air quality in overburdened communities.”

The developer says phase one alone will produce $1.9 billion in economic benefits for New Jersey, creating upwards of 22,000 jobs.

In addition to support from federal regulators and the White House, the project has buy-in from state officials. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) stated, ​“Atlantic Shores represents meaningful progress toward a clean energy future for New Jersey.”

As of now, the lawsuits against the project have not yet been heard, meaning construction is able to proceed unless a judge orders it to stop.