Sweeney Center study explores state of offshore wind in NJ

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The Sweeney Center for Public Policy at Rowan University is out with a new study that examines the state of offshore wind here in the Garden State, its future and how competitive New Jersey’s sector is versus other states.

The study, “Benchmarking New Jersey on Offshore Wind,” comes as the nascent industry ramps up here and in several neighboring states, and against the backdrop of a heated debate from critics and opponents amid a rash of marine mammal deaths, which has led to protests, hearings, and a call to pause until more is learned.

NJBIZ reported on these latest developments last month, which included a major offshore wind conference at the Sweeney Center, “Offshore Wind Technology in New Jersey: Sustainability, Emerging Markets and Policy,” that brought together leaders and stakeholders from across business, government and academia.

Former Senate President Steve Sweeney, whom the policy center is named for and who chairs its advisory board, said that the new report takes a hard look at where New Jersey stacks up on offshore wind.

“We have moved aggressively as a state over the past five years to put ourselves in position to be the national leaders in both offshore wind development and job creation,” said Sweeney. “Competition between states and companies is increasingly intense. With New York allowing Ørsted to use federal offshore wind tax credits, we need to do the same to make sure that the EEW AOS [a partnership of Danish offshore wind developer Ørsted and leading German manufacturer EEW] monopile manufacturing facility in Paulsboro is able to expand, increase union jobs and supply our offshore wind farms with American-made components.”

Mark Magyar, Sweeney Center director and author of the report, said his study puts New Jersey’s offshore wind development efforts in national context.

“While Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind 1 is under construction and will be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the nation, New Jersey has been the leader in supply chain, manufacturing and port infrastructure investment,” said Magyar. “The EDA’s [New Jersey Economic Development Authority] $637.7 million New Jersey Wind Port is the nation’s largest port facility investment. Gov. [Phil]  Murphy set the most ambitious offshore wind target in the nation and his administration has been particularly aggressive in requiring companies to invest in New Jersey projects as a condition of power purchase agreements.

“What is at risk is the future of the EEW AOS monopile plan, which was the first private sector investment in creating a U.S.-based manufacturing industry to supply the offshore wind industry,” Magyar continued.

Insights

The full report is available here. Some notable excerpts include:

On EEW AOS:

“Both Ørsted, whose Ocean Wind 1 wind farm was scheduled for completion in 2025, and Atlantic Shores, whose Atlantic Shores Wind 1 is on track to be fully operational by 2028, agreed to use monopiles manufactured in Paulsboro for their wind farms as part of their winning bids on the BPU’s [Board of Public Utilities] first two solicitations for companies to sell power generated by offshore wind to New Jersey customers,” the report said, adding:

“But with construction on hold for months, EEW AOS may be unable to meet delivery requirements. In fact, EEW AOS already may be technically in default in its Atlantic Shores contract because it will be unable to build the new Phase 2 facilities and deliver the 100 monopiles promised by 2026. However, Atlantic Shores has been a strong supporter of the EEW AOS factory, providing funding to support hiring and training of the factory’s new workforce.”

Raising concerns:

“Gov. Phil Murphy’s commitment in September to bring 11 gigawatts of electricity generated by offshore wind to New Jersey by 2040 underscored the state’s commitment to be the dominant player in the burgeoning offshore wind industry on the Atlantic Seaboard. It is not only a key component of a broad green energy strategy to fight climate change that includes nuclear power, solar energy and other alternative technologies, but also an economic development and job creation strategy designed to ensure that New Jersey workers manufacture the monopiles, assemble the turbines and ship them out to sea from New Jersey ports,” the report continued. “New Jersey’s full-bore commitment to offshore wind is not without controversy. Concerns have been raised about the impact on residential and business utility bills, and both utilities and manufacturers worry about the impact of the past year’s inflation in steel prices and labor costs on their original cost calculations. Furthermore, a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University poll showed public concern about the impact of preliminary offshore wind activities off the New Jersey coast on whale strandings, despite findings by federal officials and near-unanimous agreement by environmentalists that the soundings have no more impact on marine life than the thousands of offshore wind turbines in operation around the globe.”