The New Jersey Economic Development Authority board approved two key items April 10 pertaining to the Murphy administration’s green energy goals.

First, the board took up the New Jersey Green Bank, which will make investments in the clean energy sector and help advance the state’s efforts to facility an equitable energy transition. NJEDA officials said the Green Bank, a component of the 2019 Energy Master Plan, will be dedicated to investing in projects, technologies and companies that align with the state’s climate goals, including in areas such as zero-emissions transportation, building decarbonization and resiliency, and clean energy generation and storage. The Green Bank will offer loans, provide credit enhancements, and other financial vehicles – including equity – to attract private capital to enable the state to reach its climate goals.

The New Jersey Green Bank will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the NJEDA – and will not be a retail bank but will prioritize deploying capital. The goal is to mobilize private capital participation on the scale needed to meet the state’s climate targets – while eliminating market barriers.

The initiative is being seeded with an initial $40 million that has already been appropriated to the NJEDA – and will be transferred to the Green Bank as part of the authorizing resolution. Additionally, the NJEDA is pursuing federal grants to bolster the Green Bank’s capital base.

NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan described this as a huge opportunity – on both the clean energy side as well as the economic side because of the jobs it will create and the activity it will catalyze.

With that, the resolution was approved by the NJEDA board.

Expanding the green workforce

The NJEDA board then voted to approve the creation of a $7 million Green Workforce Training Grant Challenge – a competitive program aimed at implementing workforce and skills development programs to strengthen and diversify New Jersey’s green economy talent pipeline. Funding is being provided by initiatives approved under the Offshore Wind Sector Initiatives memorandum of understanding between NJEDA and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities from October 2023 and the Council on the Green Economy MOU between NJEDA and NJDEP from March.

According to the NJEDA, applicants must include a minimum of one community-based organization that serves one or more overburdened New Jersey communities – while proposed initiatives must focus on at least one and no more than two of the following industries: offshore wind, other renewable energy technologies, green design and construction, environmental and green infrastructure, grid resilience, clean transportation and energy efficiency.

The grant funding will be allocated with $2.65 million going toward offshore wind programs and $4.35 million to fund proposals across all industries, including offshore wind.  The minimum awards will be $250,000 – the maximum, $1.5 million.

That initiative was then approved by the NJEDA board as well.

The workforce of the future:

In January, the EAS Carpenters Union celebrated the first class to complete training at the new EAS Commercial Dive Center in Sicklerville. The facility provides the workforce development and skills necessary in the evolving energy infrastructure and offshore wind spaces. Click here to read more.