Gov. Murphy Takes Next Step on Offshore Wind with Commitment of Offshore Wind Bids to BPU at Global Climate Summit

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Environment New Jersey

Trenton – Governor Phil Murphy today at the Global Climate Summit announced a major step forward to harness New Jersey’s off-shore wind potential. This coming Monday, the NJ BPU will consider inviting bids for 1,100 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind and the Governor also called for future solititications of 1,200 MW in 2020 and 2022.

Doug O’Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey, issued the following statement:

“We’re facing rising seas, intensifying storms, and unprecedented health threats because we’ve relied so long on dirty energy sources.  But sitting right here next to us is the Atlantic Ocean, and offshore wind can provide a massive source of clean, renewable energy. Under Gov. Murphy, New Jersey is jumpstarting our offshore wind industry by making bold pledges – and then working to achieve them. We have seen a breakneck pace at the BPU to move forward with offshore wind after the inertia of the Christie era, and it couldn’t be more welcome.

There’s no reason that New Jersey can’t be the national leader in offshore wind. Gov. Murphy’s commitments today on offshore wind will bring us closer to achieving a massive clean, renewable energy right within out grasp offshore. It’s time to go big on wind and Governor Murphy is leading the charge.”

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Today’s announcement also buttressed the findings of the latest Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center report on offshore wind potential, Wind Power to Spare: The Enormous Energy Potential of Atlantic Offshore Wind, which found:

  • Winds blowing off the Atlantic coast could provide four times more electricity each year than the region currently uses, and 12 of the 14 coastal states have offshore wind potential that exceeds their current electricity consumption, including New Jersey.
  • New Jersey is the top state in the country for off-shore wind because we have more offshore wind planned in terms of total capacity than any other state. If built, these projects off the Jersey Shore would supply electricity equivalent to seven times the annual electricity use of Newark.
  • Even if these 14 states converted all activities currently powered by gasoline, natural gas and other fossil fuels (such as transportation and home heating) to electricity, the energy provided by offshore wind turbines could still produce twice as much power as they would use. New Jersey has a ratio of 3.7 to 1.6 for our current off-shore wind potential compared to our current electricity consumption and estimated electrified heat and transportation consumption.

 

 

 

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