Innovation and in-state project development will be key to New Jersey’s offshore wind future as the state advances its initiative to create an offshore power center that can connect to homes and businesses onshore, according to speakers at the Wind Institute Research Symposium.

Relocating two offshore wind points of interconnection from Maine to Massachusetts could reduce New England’s transmission upgrade cost requirements, ISO-NE said.

BOEM has issued its final Record of Decision ROD approving Avangrid Renewables’ New England Wind project, marking a major milestone for the proposed offshore wind project.

The coordinated offshore wind procurements of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island received a total of 5,454 MW in bids from four developers, falling short of the 6,000-MW solicitation cap.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has approved the Sunrise Wind offshore wind farm, a 924-MW project that could power 320,000 New York homes.

The developer of New Jersey’s most advanced offshore wind project is pushing ahead with a second project, as the state prepares to launch a new solicitation that could add as much as 4 GW in capacity.

Offshore wind is projected to be a key part of East Coast states’ decarbonization and DOE called its two-year study the most thorough analysis to date.

ISO-NE is planning to study the effects of shifting two offshore wind points of interconnection from Maine to Massachusetts and conduct a preliminary analysis of offshore wind interconnection points across the region.