More Offshore Wind Farms May Come To NJ. Here's What We Know

NEW JERSEY — On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold a wind auction next month for more than 480,000 acres offshore of New York and New Jersey, in the area known as the New York Bight.

This will be the first offshore wind lease sale under the President Joe Biden-Harris administration, which wants to advance wind energy in the U.S. The New York Bight is a large stretch of the Atlantic Ocean directly off New York City, and stretches from Cape May at its southernmost point to Montauk on Long Island at its northernmost.

The Feb. 23 auction will allow offshore wind developers to bid on six lease areas — the most areas ever offered in a single auction in the U.S. — as described in the federal government's Final Sale Notice.

The 480,000 acres in the New York Bight is officially being leased by the Department of the Interior.

These latest wind farms, as they currently stand proposed, will be much farther from shore than three existing wind farms already approved off the coast of LBI and Atlantic City. Those wind farms will be 10 miles off Barnegat Light (a wind farm run by a subsidiary of Shell Oil) and 15 miles off Atlantic City (a wind farm run by Danish company Ørsted).

This newest round of wind turbines leased next month will be 27 nautical miles off the Jersey coast, and 20 nautical miles off New York. Here is a map that exactly shows where these proposed wind farms will be located: https://www.boem.gov/renewable...

As Patch previously reported, the Murphy administration is massively launching wind energy off New Jersey: Construction is supposed to start in 2022 on three wind farms, the first located 10 miles off the northern tip of Long Beach Island (Barnegat Light), and two more farms located 15 miles off Atlantic City.

The wind leasing announced this week will be in addition to those three previously leased farms. Prior: Massive Offshore Wind Farms Coming To The Jersey Shore

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has so far awarded offshore wind capacity rights to two companies, Danish wind supplier Ørsted, which will operate the farms off Atlantic City, and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, operated by a subsidiary of Shell, which will operate the wind farm off LBI. Construction on those wind turbines is supposed to begin in 2022.

Govs. Murphy, Hochul back President Biden's wind farm goals off New York/New Jersey

The Biden-Harris administration has a goal of installing 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030. They have a range of offshore wind proposals throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

And they've found eager partners in Gov. Murphy and now-New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats.

“Offshore wind holds the tremendous promise for our future in terms of climate change, economic growth, strengthening our work force and job creation,” said Murphy Wednesday. “New Jersey is already committed to creating nearly one-quarter of the nation’s offshore wind-generation market. Together, with this critical cooperation with the Biden-Harris administration and our state partners, we will turn this vision of becoming a leader in the global offshore wind market into a reality.”

"Here in New York, we are already living with the effects of climate change through extreme weather that pose a direct threat to our way of life," said Gov. Hochul. "We must chart an ambitious path toward a cleaner energy economy now more than ever."

Congressman Frank Pallone backs the wind turbines. Pallone is the Democrat who represents New Jersey's Sixth District, which stretches from Woodbridge to Asbury Park and hugs the Raritan Bay. His district is the one that looks out onto New York Bight, where the turbines would be located.

"We know that climate change is here and that states like New Jersey are on the front lines," said Pallone. "Offshore wind promises to tackle the climate crisis head-on by delivering the benefits of clean energy as we transition to a clean economy."

Leases offered in next month's sale could result in 5.6 to 7 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, enough to power nearly 2 million homes.

Some in NJ concerned about beach views being ruined, a danger to birds and also fisheries being destroyed

But there's always the question everyone wants to know: Will the turbines be visible to people sitting on the beach?

In the case of the wind farms planned off LBI and Atlantic City, yes, say environmental advocates, especially on clear days. The turbines off Barnegat Light are the closest to shore, at only 10 miles off the beach.

The Ørsted wind turbines are expected to start running in late 2024, said Maddy Urbish, an Ørsted spokeswoman. The company plans to have more turbines operational by 2028-2029.

However, some residents on the Jersey Shore, most notably on Long Beach Island towns, say they are against wind energy off the Jersey Shore.

The borough of Surf City released an official statement against the plan, saying they are worried about the economic impact it will have on recreational boating and commercial fishing.

Surf City officials also said they are worried about the impact the turbines will have on tourism, particularly if they can be seen from the beach. They say the turbines will degrade pristine views of an uncluttered ocean environment; they worry about hazards to boats; and also say there is not enough direct economic benefit to Long Beach Island.

Some also worry about birds flying into the turbines. The Sierra Club says that up to one million birds are killed every year by turbines, but that number is far outpaced by collisions with power lines (25 million), cell phone towers (6.5 million), windows, cats and habitat loss.

The wind companies said commercial and recreational fishing can still happen in between the wind turbines.

Zoom meeting for public comment will be Jan. 19

Do you have a comment on wind farms being built of the coast of New Jersey?

On January 19, from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. EST, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will be hosting their fifth and final meeting on the New York Bight leasing process targeted towards the fisheries community.

"The purpose of this meeting is to describe how we arrived at the Final Lease Areas, provide an overview of the feedback we received and how BOEM has responded. Please register for the meeting using the following link: https://cbuilding.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkce2pqj0qE9SVem4vxYuoCMWbI8JpIcZw

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