Atlantic Shores South offshore wind project in N.J. approved under Biden administration - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Atlantic Shores South offshore wind project in N.J. approved under Biden administration
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Biden administration approves large offshore wind project for New Jersey

Atlantic Shores South contains two separate projects that would have the capacity to produce 2,800 megawatts of renewable energy, the equivalent of providing electricity to one million homes.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Tuesday it has approved the Atlantic Shores South offshore wind energy project, which could bring close to 200 wind turbines starting just shy of nine miles off the New Jersey coast.

It marks the nation’s ninth utility-scale offshore wind project under President Biden’s administration. It also marks a major victory for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy after another major offshore wind project proposed by Orsted fell through last fall. However, multiple groups have coalesced to fight Atlantic Shores because of the potential visibility of the turbines from beach communities, and potential impact on marine life.

Atlantic Shores South contains two separate projects that would have the capacity to produce 2,800 megawatts of renewable energy, the equivalent of providing electricity to one million homes. The wind farms would connect to land through up to ten offshore substations and associated transmission lines that would likely make landfall in Atlantic City and Sea Girt.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has approved construction of 195 turbine generators for Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, LLC, a partnership between EDF-RE Offshore Development, LLC and Shell New Energies US LLC. Atlantic Shores. The turbine arrays would be placed with a 102,124-acre span that starts about 8.7 miles from the New Jersey shoreline.

The lease area spans roughly off the coast of Brigantine and Atlantic City, and stretching south, with turbine assemblies jutting up to 1,048 feet high, slightly taller than the Comcast Tower in Philadelphia.

“The Biden-Harris administration is building momentum every day for our clean energy future, and today’s milestone is yet another step toward our ambitious goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030,” said U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a statement. “Our clean energy future is now a reality — thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda we are addressing climate change, fostering job growth, and promoting equitable economic opportunities for all communities.”

The project, which will use union labor, cleared a major hurdle in May when the environmental impact statement for the project was given the go ahead.

State officials have faced opposition by Shore-area groups that came out against offshore wind farms. The groups, which have sometimes aligned with pro-fossil fuel organizations, fear turbines would be visible from the beach and threaten the Shore’s economy. However, New Jersey has approved multiple wind farms.

Atlantic Shores would likely be first built and producing power by the end of the decade.

Under offshore wind development, the U.S. government approves the lease areas in federal waters and awards bids by energy companies for them. The federal government also releases environmental impact statement.

In New Jersey, the Board of Public Utilities spells out how much power the state wants from the projects, gives approvals for routes used to connect the power to land and how much ratepayers would be charged for the power, as well as other regulatory issues such as connecting to the regional grid as the projects cross into state waters to deliver energy to customers.

In November, offshore wind developer Orsted stunned state officials by abruptly pulling out of two planned projects known as Ocean Wind 1 and 2. They were to deliver about 2.2 gigawatts of renewable energy once completed. Orsted cited a turn in economics, including “high inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain bottlenecks,” as reasons.

Gov. Phil Murphy, called Orsted’s decision “outrageous” but vowed to continue building an offshore wind portfolio of 11 gigawatts by 2040. Offshore wind is key to achieving his goal of producing 100% clean energy in the state by 2050. It’s been a long haul, as state officials began planning for commercial-scale offshore wind since the early 2000s.

State officials have poured hundreds of millions into developing offshore wind as an industry, hoping to capture segments of manufacturing and the supply chain through investment in a 200-acre New Jersey Wind Port in Salem County, and a separate area built by EEW AOS at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal upriver in Gloucester County to build the 3 million-pound, 300-foot-long, all-steel foundations for turbines known as monopiles. Officials expect offshore wind to create tens of thousands of jobs.

In January, New Jersey officials approved an additional two utility-scale projects for off the coast, but this time much farther out to sea than Atlantic Shores. The BPU approved the projects totaling 3.7 gigawatts, or enough to power about 1.6 million to 1.8 million homes. Chicago-based Invenergy Wind Offshore partnered with New York-based energyRe for one of the projects. And Jersey City-based Attentive Energy was the other project approved. Both still need federal approval.

Atlantic Shores South is the wind farm closest to being built after Orsted pulled out.

This is a developing story and will be updated.