The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities rejected one project and supported another in the state’s new grid-scale solar program Jan. 10. In a separate move, the board agreed on a consultant to prepare the groundwork for its fourth offshore wind solicitation, expected to begin early this year.  

The two solar cases were seeking approval under the Competitive Solicitation Incentive (CSI) program, which the BPU launched last year. Despite the agency’s hopes it eventually will be a major part of the state’s solar sector, it has yet to endorse any CSI projects.  

The BPU in spring 2023 opened the first solicitation under the CSI program, which handles projects greater than 5 MW. But the agency in July rejected all of the applications, saying the bids were too high. The agency is accepting applications under a second solicitation, which opened Nov. 27 and closes Feb. 29. (See NJ Rejects Solar Bids as Too Expensive.) 

In each of the two proposals discussed Wednesday, the developer is seeking to build a solar farm on land that is preserved under New Jersey law, and so usually is off-limits to solar projects. The developers asked the BPU to grant waivers that would allow the projects to move ahead. 

The board rejected the waiver request by Nexamp Solar, which is seeking to build a 10-MW floating solar project on two islands, each 10 acres in size, on the Wanaque Reservoir. The reservoir is in the Highlands Preservation Area, which is part of the Appalachians and stretches about 60 miles through New Jersey and provides a large chunk of the state with drinking water. 

Commissioner Zenon Christodoulou, speaking after the vote, said it was a “difficult” decision. 

“What we’re trying to do is try and get as much renewable energy out there,” he said. But the developer had not met the CSI rules, he explained, and urged other developers to “please be a little bit more precise with their filings and [be] on time,” in their submissions. 

Open Space or Built Land

CSI rules allow a waiver if the project is sited on a “built environment,” rather than pristine land. The developer argued that the reservoir fit the description because the project won’t be built on open space, but a water body. In addition, the developer argued that the CSI rules favor solar developments on “previously existing impervious surfaces,” and the reservoir fit that description because it was built in the 1920s with a floor on a “bedrock resistant to filtration,” according to the board order.

BPU staff said that to receive a waiver, any applicant had to meet several criteria under CSI rules, including showing the project is in the public interest, which Nexamp Solar did. But during the two- to three-year application process the project failed to provide sufficient information to the state Highlands Council and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) when asked, said Laura Scatena-Amissah, a BPU research scientist. 

“This failure to address the specific concerns of the relevant administrative agencies outweighs general statements about environmental or community benefits,” she said. 

In the second case, the board approved a waiver request by NextGrid Inc., which is seeking to build a 5.2-MW solar farm and battery storage facility under the CSI program in Manchester Township on 18.4 acres of a former landfill. The project would be sited in the Pinelands Management Area, a 295,000-acre area of forest and wilderness in South Jersey. 

Although the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan allows solar projects in that area only in “very limited circumstances,” the developer’s interaction with state agencies — including the Pinelands Commission, which oversees the area — suggested the waiver should be granted, according to the BPU order. 

Aside from the economic benefits to the area and the generation of renewable energy, the project would help cap and close the landfill and would help an overburdened community, BPU staff said. The project also has the support of the DEP and Pinelands Commission, and so a waiver is warranted, the order said. 

Fourth OSW Solicitation Work

In a separate move, the BPU agreed to extend the contract of a consultant working on the state’s third OSW solicitation, in part so the same company could start work on the state’s fourth search for OSW project proposals. 

Although the BPU is evaluating four proposals submitted in the third OSW solicitation, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) on Nov. 29 said the agency should prepare to launch a fourth solicitation early this year. 

His statement followed the announcement by Danish developer Ørsted on Nov. 1 that it would abandon the state’s first OSW project, the 1,100-MW Ocean Wind 1, and a second project in the state, the 1,148-MW Ocean Wind 2, because the developer no longer believed they were financially viable. (See Ørsted Cancels Ocean Wind, Suspends Skipjack.) The decision puts back by at least two years the date by which the state expects to have an OSW project up and running. 

Murphy, in a release announcing his acceleration of the program, said he did so in “recognition of the strong future of New Jersey’s offshore wind industry. 

“New Jersey can — and will — continue to remain a burgeoning offshore wind development hub that attracts new projects and their accompanying economic and environmental benefits for generations to come,” he said. 

The BPU is evaluating four proposals submitted in the third OSW solicitation and is expected to announce in the first quarter which — if any — proposals are selected for development. The solicitation is expected to award capacity up to 4 GW or more, with a completion date of between 2027 and 2029. 

The BPU OSW schedule calls for the fourth solicitation to begin in the first quarter of this year, with projects awarded a year later and completed by 2032. The schedule sets a preliminary capacity award of 1.2 GW in the solicitation. 

Consultant Levitan & Associates Inc. (LAI), of Boston, is working for the BPU on the third solicitation, work that includes evaluating the four applicants, BPU staffer Kira Lawrence told the board. She said the agency needs to extend the consultant’s contract to do further work on the third and fourth solicitations. 

“In order for staff to comply with the governor’s direction, the consultant is needed to begin work as soon as possible,” she said. LAI has been the board’s consultant for all three previous solicitations and has experience with providing the necessary services and knowledge of the board’s processes, she added.