New council will oversee NJ offshore wind industry

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New Jersey will have a body to focus solely on boosting the state’s offshore wind industry under an executive order signed by the governor.

Gov. Phil Murphy’s Friday morning executive order – his 79th since taking office – establishes the Wind Innovation and New Development Institute to create and handle the plan for education, research and job-training of the growing industry.

At stake is a statewide clean energy industry valued in the billions of dollars. In June, the Board of Public Utilities approved Ørsted’s bid to construct facilities for 1,100 megawatts of wind energy off the coast of Atlantic City – a move expected to generate $1.17 billion in economic benefits and power 500,000 New Jersey homes.

The offshore wind industry and clean energy economy have been key industry sectors targeted by Murphy. His clean energy plan calls for the state to annually generate 3,500 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035, and for the state to be completely reliant on clean and renewable energy by 2050.

The WIND Institute is part of the economic master plan Murphy unveiled in October – a broader set of economic incentives the governor envisions would replace the now-expired Grow New Jersey corporate tax breaks and the Economic Redevelopment and Growth gap financing program.

“Centralizing the state’s resources under one roof allows us to leverage the considerable expertise at our disposal to enhance our position as a national leader in offshore wind development,” Murphy said in a Friday morning statement accompanying the executive order.