New Jersey's Biggest Wind Farm Yet Just Got Approved By Federal Govt.

LONG BRANCH, NJ — Last week, the U.S. federal government approved the biggest lot to date of wind turbines to be built off the Jersey Shore.

On Nov. 20, the Biden-Harris administration approved the Empire Wind 1 and 2 offshore wind project, according to this press release from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

And on Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy directed the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to launch a fourth round of offshore wind solicitation, beginning in early 2024. That means that sometime in the new year, companies can bid to build more wind farms off New Jersey.

Empire Wind 1 and 2 will be two wind farms right next to each other, located about 14 miles south of Long Island and 19.5 miles east of Long Branch; see the map above.

If it gets built, Empire Wind will be New Jersey's biggest wind farm so far: Together, the two offshore wind lots will total nearly 80,000 acres of ocean. They will be permitted to have up to 147 wind turbines combined.

That's bigger than the Atlantic Shores wind farm approved to be built off Barnegat Light (110 turbines), and bigger than the now dead-in-the-water wind farm Orsted said it was going to build off Atlantic City (98 turbines).

Empire Wind 1 and 2 will be owned and operated a joint partnership between BP (oil and gas behemoth British Petroleum) and Equinor Wind LLC, a Norwegian energy company, according to the Empire Wind website.

This comes less than a month after Danish company Orsted made the surprise 3 a.m. announcement on Oct. 31 they were pulling out of plans to build wind farms off Atlantic City. Orsted said the project was too expensive — despite the fact that the NJ Legislature gave them nearly $500 million in tax breaks to build the wind farms.

Gov. Phil Murphy released a furious statement after Orsted backed out, saying at the time: "Orsted's decision to abandon its commitments to New Jersey is outrageous and calls into question the company’s credibility and competence."

Murphy said he would be considering litigation against Orsted, although as of Nov. 29 the state of New Jersey has not sued Orsted.

Orsted's 98 turbines would have started 15 miles out. They would have been visible from Atlantic City beaches on very clear days, according to these renderings released by the company. So it's unlikely the Empire Wind turbines will be visible from Long Branch beaches, as they will be 19 miles out.

Despite Orsted pulling out, President Joe Biden is moving forward on his goal of greatly expanding America's offshore wind energy. Empire Wind is the sixth offshore wind energy project to be approved under the Biden-Harris administration.

Biden said he has a goal of creating 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, an ambition back by Gov. Murphy. The Biden administration has approved first-ever offshore wind lots in the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, and is exploring offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine and off Oregon.

Not a single wind turbine has been built yet off the Jersey Shore.

Atlantic Shores, the wind farm proposed to be built 10 miles off Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, is still on track to be built, said Murphy Wednesday. At 10 miles out, those turbines will definitely be visible from the beaches.

But no actual turbine construction has begun.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the two Empire Wind farms could create 2,076 megawatts of clean energy, which could power more than 700,000 homes in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey each year. The wind farms would also create jobs to build and to maintain.

But Clean Ocean Action, a Jersey Shore ocean advocacy group that has been critical of wind farms, said wind farms off New York/New Jersey are being "fast tracked."

"The projects will be sandwiched between shipping lanes entering the busiest port on the US East Coast, the Port of New York and New Jersey," said Clean Ocean Action in a statement. "We are once again frustrated with the government fast-tracking numerous massive offshore wind projects, especially amid the severe financial turmoil the offshore wind industry is experiencing as evidenced by Orsted’s recent cancellation of two projects."

"Too many questions remain unanswered about the impacts of offshore wind projects, such as Empire Wind 1 & 2, to move so quickly and recklessly forward with massive ocean industrialization," said Clean Ocean Action. "The ocean deserves more care."

“Under President Biden’s leadership, the American offshore wind industry is continuing to expand rapidly — creating good-paying union jobs across the manufacturing, shipbuilding and construction sectors," said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “Today’s approval of the sixth offshore wind project adds to the significant progress towards our administration’s clean energy goals."

Wind turbines off the Jersey Shore: 2 Offshore Wind Farms Canceled In New Jersey, Developer Says (Oct. 31)