Leading Offshore Wind Companies Place Bids for NJ Wind Port Locations
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) reports that it received strong interest from a broad range of companies to locate operations at the New Jersey Wind Port being developed along the eastern shore of the Delaware River in the southern part of the state. The goal was to develop a hub for the offshore wind industry along the U.S. east coast and based on the first round of offers the state is receiving interest from the leaders in offshore wind development.
Six bidders submitted 16 non-binding offers that NJEDA staff reports met the terms of the first round of the process. The bids included offshore wind developers and manufacturers. All bidders put in multiple offers encompassing different parcels, project configurations, and levels of investments. New Jersey was seeking non-binding offers from offshore wind developers and component manufacturers on four parcels of property at the Port. Two properties are being purpose-built for offshore wind marshaling, staging, and final assembly of turbines. The other properties are being purpose-built for offshore wind turbine component manufacturing and assembly.
Three of the largest developers working on projects from Massachusetts to Maryland, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, Ørsted Wind Power North America, and Beacon Wind submitted multiple offers for two of the land parcels. The companies are bidding for the areas being purpose-built for offshore wind marshaling, staging, and final assembly of turbines.
Three of the largest offshore wind turbine manufacturers, GE Renewables, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, and Vestas-American Wind Technology, also submitted proposals. All three expressed interest in the two manufacturing parcels available at the Wind Port.
“The significant interest we are seeing in the Port from many of the world’s largest offshore wind businesses validates our expectation that building this unique infrastructure resource would attract the attention of the global industry and establish New Jersey as a leader in the U.S. offshore wind industry,” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan.
New Jersey has committed to producing 7,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2035. State officials are promoting the New Jersey Wind Port as a first-in-the-nation infrastructure investment that will provide a location for essential staging, assembly, and manufacturing activities related to offshore wind projects on the East Coast. At full build-out, the Wind Port has the potential to create up to 1,500 manufacturing, assembly, and operations jobs.
Construction on the site is due to begin in December with the first operations expected in the winter of 2023/2024. In the next phase of the process, state authorities will begin scoring the different proposals and then expect to begin negotiations with some or all of the bidders from the first round.