Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind is confident the proposal it submitted Friday to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities will be completed on time and without issue.
After all, it won’t be the company’s first efforts off the coast of the state.
Shell New Energies U.S. and EDF Renewables North America, the two companies that make up Atlantic Shores, received approval to build the Atlantic Shores wind farm in 2021. Atlantic Shores has three offshore wind energy lease areas totaling more than 400 square miles under active development.
The companies submitted a bid to build a second, as yet unnamed project 10 to 20 miles off the coast. Where, is not as certain.
The companies have lease areas in the large expanse of ocean between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light on the northern tip of Long Beach Island, but they did not specify exactly where the second project would be built.
About Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind
Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind is a 50/50 joint venture partnership between Shell New Energies U.S. and EDF-RE Offshore Development (a subsidiary of EDF Renewables North America). Both companies come with decades of experience developing onshore and offshore energy projects across the globe.
The BPU said it received four bids for its third offshore wind solicitation (bids were due at 5 p.m. Friday) and that it intends to make a decision in the first quarter of 2024.
If selected, Atlantic Shores officials said it would supply renewable energy to hundreds of thousands of New Jersey households beyond the 1,510 megawatts already being delivered as part of Atlantic Shores Project 1 — and further help the state reach its ambitious goal of 11,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2040.
“Today’s bid submission marks the culmination of over four years of dedicated planning and research by the Atlantic Shores team to deliver the most economically, environmentally and socially responsible renewable energy solution for New Jersey,” CEO Joris Veldhoven said. “We are thrilled to be on the forefront of New Jersey’s clean energy transition, taking on a leading role in assisting the state to achieve its 11,000 MW offshore wind target.”
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Company officials said the distinct advantages of Atlantic Shores’ advanced permitting program, combined with a total resource capacity of more than 5,000 MW across its portfolio, result in the developer offering New Jersey the most “make-ready” proposal available in the third offshore wind solicitation.
Atlantic Shores has also submitted a prebuild infrastructure bid.
Company officials said the unmatched maturity of the proposal to the state, including the PBI bid, provides a measure of certainty for on-time clean energy infrastructure delivery that can also accommodate multiple construction timelines from other projects selected in this solicitation or future ones.
