The U.S. offshore wind industry has been battered in recent months by the cancellation of several mega-projects along the East Coast, but New Jersey recently award contracts for two new wind farms.
On Jan. 24, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) awarded a combined 3,742 MW of offshore wind capacity to Invenergy and energyRE’s Leading Light Wind Project and Attentive Energy’s Attentive Energy Two Project. In a unanimous vote, NJBPU awarded 2,400 MW of capacity to Leading Light Wind and 1,342 MW to Attentive Energy Two. Combined, the projects will bring $6.8 billion in economic benefits to New Jersey and provide enough domestically produced energy to power 1.8 million homes.
A report at www.apnews.com said the Attentive Energy project would be built 42 miles off Seaside Heights, NJ, and would not be visible from the shoreline. New Jersey’s plans for developing offshore wind farms was dealt a major blow back in Nov. 2023 when Danish wind developer Orsted canceled plans for two large projects because of higher interest rates, supply chain problems and other financial concerns.