Ørsted joins race for offshore wind capacity in New Jersey

Denmark’s Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) has taken part in New Jersey’s second solicitation for offshore wind capacity with a proposal of 1.1 GW, state regulators confirmed last week.

The Danish energy major has filed paperwork for its 1,100-MW Ocean Wind 2 project, located 15 miles (24.1km) off the coast of southern New Jersey, in the same area as its Ocean Wind project that was selected in New Jersey’s first offshore wind solicitation in 2019. If built, Ocean Wind 2 will generate electricity for about 500,000 local homes, the developer estimates. According to Ørsted, Ocean Wind 2 offers “significant investments” to New Jersey, with a major focus on job creation, and also contains proposals for the New Jersey Wind Port and research programmes.

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind LLC, a 50/50 joint venture of EDF Renewables North America and Shell New Energies US LLC, has also launched a bid of up to 2,300 MW, as previously announced.

New Jersey’s latest offshore wind tender was launched in September and was open for submissions by December 10. Via the competition, the state aims to award between 1,200 MW and 2,400 MW of offshore wind projects, with awards expected to be announced in June 2021. The tender will potentially help New Jersey lift committed offshore wind capacity from 1.1 GW to 3.5 GW.

The state’s goal is to have 7,500 GW of offshore wind turbines by 2035. A third competitive round targeting at least 1,200 MW of offshore capacity is due to be held in 2022.

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