New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) last week approved the purchase of 109.5 acres of land for $24.25 million, nearly double the size of the state’s planned offshore wind farm.
The purchase from a subsidiary of Public Services Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) will cost PSEG to develop the New Jersey windport, which is expected to have a 220-acre footprint, at a cost of $500 million to $550 million. will be added to the land already leased from The extra lot will be used to build additional marshalling and manufacturing facilities and provide a second entry/exit for employees. The port is under construction at Lower Allowways Creek in South Jersey, adjacent to three PSEG-operated nuclear power plants.
EDA also engaged consultants McKinsey & Co. to explore the feasibility of building a flagship offshore wind R&D facility. The two July 20th approvals are for regional supplies servicing offshore wind projects on the East Coast, with the goal of supplying equipment and materials not only to projects in New Jersey, but also projects in other states. It adds to the state’s aggressive efforts to establish itself as a key player in the chain. good.
EDA CEO Tim Sullivan said the port expansion would help fill what he described as “the current shortage of fit-for-purpose port capacity across the region.”
“The ability to marshal two projects at once, using additional space for component manufacturing, will drive job creation, small business opportunities, and all forms of ancillary economic activity locally and statewide. increase.”
Another important part of the state’s plan is to create a major research and development center. With a budget of up to $880,000, McKinsey will be selected from five applicants to conduct market analysis and make recommendations to the Center based on the analysis.
This work includes “a background review of existing offshore wind research and innovation facilities; a market analysis to assess potential gaps and unmet needs; An assessment of New Jersey’s competitive advantage, which, according to a memo circulated by Sullivan, developed a ranked set of recommendations for New Jersey to pursue, after which McKinsey assessed two of its “recommended strategies,” determine its feasibility.
EDA also has the option to add a third task to McKinsey’s work. It’s about creating a plan to implement the recommended strategies if the project moves forward. According to the memo, the main goal of the project is to “advance New Jersey as a hub on the East Coast of the United States for research and innovation in world-renowned offshore wind technology.” (look New Jersey plans wind ‘flagship’ R&D innovation center.)
According to the memo, the consultants also urged the state to “support and promote new innovations and solutions to the challenges and opportunities of the offshore wind market,” and to “encourage the clustering and entrenchment of investments and activities in offshore wind research and innovation.” It is expected that it will assist in “encouraging” The state also expects the state to “leverage New Jersey’s existing expertise and reputation for research and innovation across multiple disciplines such as cleantech, information technology and life sciences.”
Create an industrial hub
Windport grew out of New Jersey’s plan to have 7.5 GW of offshore wind power by 2035. target amount. BPU plans to launch another solicitation early next year, and he has two solicitations to follow. (look New Jersey Wins Two Offshore Wind Projects.)
According to EDA, Wind Port could create up to 1,500 manufacturing, assembly and operations jobs and bring billions of dollars of economic growth to New Jersey’s economy.
According to Sullivan’s memo, construction of the port’s first phase — a 30-acre marshalling area, wharf infrastructure and dredgers — began in January and is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2024. Phase 1 also includes 60 acres of manufacturing and 5 acres used for general services. Danish developer Ørsted, which is developing two Ocean Wind projects, has signed a letter of intent to lease the land at this stage to support the projects.
Phase 2 of the port, currently in the feasibility stage, includes an area where developers can dump dredged material from Phase 1, and the state will invest $56 million to $61 million in deposit fees for future dredgers. It will save you dollars, the memo said. Construction of Phase 2 he is scheduled to begin in 2024.
endangered species
However, moving forward with the project has faced opposition from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network said Friday that he submitted his notice of intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) 60 days ago. US Army Corps of Engineers.
of news NMFS said it violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by underestimating the impact of building a wind farm in the mouth of the Delaware River, which is “designated for critical Atlantic sturgeon habits.” Stated.
“In preparing the Biological Opinion, NMFS was dramatically underestimated because it failed to use the best available scientific and commercial data. [of] “The existing baseline impact of vessel attacks on Atlantic sturgeon populations and our failure to accurately predict the consequences of vessel attacks during port operations and construction,” the notice said. As a result, the authorities found that the project did not endanger sturgeon populations and that the opinions expressed in favor of issuing the permit were “not sufficiently supported by the record.”
The notice argues that if the correct data were used, the mission could conclude that the issuance of permits “is likely to jeopardize the survival of Atlantic sturgeon.”
Riverkeeper also covers NMFS’s comments on the Edgemoor Container Port’s permit application, which will enable the development of a major container terminal at the Port of Wilmington, approximately 25 miles north of Wind Port.
Maya van Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper Network Leader, said: “We are shocked and disappointed that NMFS chose to overlook the important provisions provided by the Endangered Species Act to protect the Delaware Atlantic sturgeon.”