New Jersey once again refuses Fishermen’s 25-MW offshore wind scheme

Nov 24, 2014 - The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Friday gave the thumbs down for the third time to the 25-MW pilot wind project off Atlantic City proposed by Fishermen’s Energy.

According to the Board’s decision, the project “does not demonstrate financial integrity” and there is no guarantee that the developer will obtain the needed government subsidies. Records on how the scheme would be viable without this financing were not provided either. The regulator also ruled out that the Atlantic City offshore project cannot go ahead without at least USD 100 million (EUR 80.7m) in federal grants.

Fishermen’s plan was previously dismissed twice, with the second rejection being appealed before the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division. The company will appeal the latest rejection, as well, chief operating officer Paul Gallagher said, as cited by the Charlotte Observer.

In August, Fishermen’s Energy was awarded a USD-47-million grant by the Department of Energy (DOE) under a programme aimed at speeding up the commercialisation of innovative offshore wind technologies in the US. As per the original plan, the developer intended to initiate onshore building works in 2015 and bring the five-turbine plant online by 2016.

The Atlantic City wind farm will test the use of twisted jacket foundation which is cheaper to instal, DOE says on its website. In addition, the proposed facility will act as “an at-sea laboratory” to explore the interactions between turbines, test new control systems and provide information about potential environmental impacts of offshore wind.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.807)

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