By Rich Heidorn Jr.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday the state will procure the remainder of its 7,500-MW offshore wind goal in five solicitations through 2028.
Murphy issued an executive order last November directing state officials to acquire 7,500 MW of offshore wind by 2035. The state awarded a contract for 1,100 MW to Ørsted in June 2019. Commercial operation is projected for 2024. (See New Jersey Doubles OSW Target.)
On Friday, Murphy announced the state will issue a solicitation for an additional 1,200 MW in the third quarter, with bids due in the fourth quarter and the award announced in the second quarter of 2021. Commercial operation is projected for 2027.
The governor also announced four additional solicitations through 2028, with commercial operation completed between 2029 and 2035.
Murphy said he released the schedule to provide the certainty needed by developers, original equipment manufacturers and others in the OSW supply chain.
“By announcing this planned solicitation schedule, we are demonstrating to our partners in industry and labor that we are committed to implementing this process in a thoughtful way that ensures economic growth for New Jersey,” Murphy said.
“New Jersey opened the largest single-state solicitation, is building a supply chain that will support projects up and down the East Coast, and is poised to double our offshore wind capacity,” New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Joseph Fiordaliso said. “Offshore wind is a critical component in realizing the governor’s vision of 100% clean energy by 2050 and ensuring our planet survives for future generations.”
Murphy said the schedule could be revised based on the “transmission solutions and development schedule, the status of additional lease areas, permitting, port readiness, establishment of a supply chain, workforce training and cost trends.”
Murphy’s statement did not address concerns that state ratepayers might have to pay for the generation without it receiving any offsetting revenue from the PJM capacity market. In an RTO Insider webinar on Feb. 19, Fiordaliso said FERC’s Dec. 19 order requiring PJM to apply its minimum offer price rule to all new state-subsidized resources was an effort by the Trump administration to throw “roadblocks” in the way of New Jersey’s clean energy policies. (See PJM’s MOPR Quandary: Should States Stay or Should they Go?)
Liz Burdock, CEO of the Business Network for Offshore Wind, thanked the governor for responding to its request for a multiyear schedule of solicitations and said she hoped other East Coast states would follow suit.
“However, we are also concerned that the state does not currently have a long-term comprehensive plan for working with utilities, regional transmission organizations and other grid experts to ensure that the state’s energy systems are ready for the massive gigawatts of power that will be generated off the New Jersey shoreline starting in 2024,” she said in a statement.
“Grid and transmission planning is key to ensuring the steady growth of the U.S. offshore wind industry in the long term. We only have a few years to modernize and increase the capacity of the onshore grid to handle the double task of the electrification of transportation (electric vehicles) and the greatly increased generation of clean energy from offshore wind and solar.”
