As expected, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Wednesday granted Leading Light Wind a pause on its project through Dec. 20, giving the offshore wind energy developer more time to find someone to manufacture the blades it needs for its turbines.
And, while the approval represents another delay in developing offshore wind in the state, BPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy said the decision is more a reflection of supply-chain issues than sector troubles.
“We are committed in New Jersey to our offshore wind goals,” she said. “This action will allow Invenergy to find a suitable wind turbine supplier. We look forward to delivering on the project that will help grow our clean energy workforce and contribute to clean energy generation for the state.”
Leading Light Wind from Invenergy (a joint venture between Chicago-based Invenergy and New York-based energyRE) was one of two projects that the state utilities board chose in January.
The project is slated to be 40 miles off Long Beach Island and would consist of up to 100 turbines (producing 2,300 megawatts of capacity, or enough to power 1 million homes), making it one of the largest in the country.
Leading Light Wind, however, has had issues since soon after it was approved.
Just three weeks after that approval, one of three major turbine manufacturers, GE Vernova, said it would not be able to produce what Invenergy planned to use in the Leading Light Project. Other options were not deemed feasible due to cost or fit.
Invenergy, in a statement, said it continues to search for a solution.
“The stay enables continued discussions with the BPU and supply chain partners regarding the industrywide market shifts,” it said. “We will continue to advance project development activities during this time.”
It is unclear what will happen if Invenergy cannot find its necessary supplies by December — though asking for an additional extension is a possibility.
The other project approved in January, by Attentive Energy Two, has not reported any issues. It aims to produce 1,342 MW.
