Rutgers Seeks Funding For Wind Energy Research Center

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — On Jan. 12, Rutgers announced it is launching a Wind Energy Research Center, and is seeking government and private industry funding to build it.

Rutgers researchers say they they want to "make New Jersey a global leader" in the field of offshore wind. The Wind Research Center is one of the first projects of the newly created Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute.

However, Rutgers' announcement comes the same month the latest company — this time British Petroleum (BP), working with Norwegian energy company Equinor — abandoned plans to build offshore wind: Empire Wind 2, a wind farm that would have been about 19 miles east of Long Branch.

BP/Equinor are the second two companies to abort Jersey Shore wind farms: Last October, Danish company Orsted terminated plans to build Ocean Wind 1 and 2, which would have been located off Atlantic City.

(BP Terminates Empire Wind 2 Farm; 2nd Jersey Shore Wind Farm Axed, Jan. 4)

Rutgers marine sciences professor Josh Kohut, a co-founder of the Wind Research Center, was not deterred.

"The cancelled projects do not represent the future of offshore wind development in the region," he told Patch this week. "As a research institution, this project will enable us to support the research and innovation necessary to ensure responsible deployment of offshore wind in our region."

In fact, Kohut and his team think the future of offshore wind lies in an entirely new kind of wind turbine: One that floats.

Rutgers researchers plan to build a Wind Energy Test (WET) Center, a warehouse testing facility located somewhere on the Jersey Shore (site not designated yet). There, they will test nearly full-scale versions of their floating wind turbines, which will be almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

Rutgers also plans to open a smaller WET Lab on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus, where they will test much smaller versions of the floating turbines.

Rutgers did say both labs will "require government and industry support to build and operate." The Rutgers–New Brunswick Chancellor’s Office has already designated $1.1 million to the Wind Center. Gov. Phil Murphy has also directed taxpayer money into wind research through the Wind Institute for Innovation and Training, part of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

Their proposal was one of four winning proposals selected for funding last March by Rutgers chancellor Francine Conway, as part of her “Chancellor Challenge” to fund goals in Rutgers' Academic Master Plan.

"We are happy to have been awarded $1.1 million in start-up funds," said Kohut. "With this funding, we are moving ahead on the initial phase of the project, which is to first, design and implement a lab-scale facility and secondly, design a full-scale test facility. Once the design of the full-scale at the conclusion of this project is complete, we can estimate the costs needed to construct it."

Kohut and Rutgers mechanical engineering professor Onur Bilgen are leading the project.

"Offshore wind turbines are among the tallest structures in the world," said Bilgen. “Apart from their increasing size, they may also have to be located in deeper waters, away from the shoreline to benefit from steady and stronger winds, and to minimize impact to coastal communities."

"There have been a lot of questions raised about what effect putting structures in the ocean might have on ecology, fisheries and marine mammals," said Kohut. "All of those important questions can now be addressed in collaboration with the engineering faculty at Rutgers. We will be able to think about the whole picture, from the structure itself to its impact on the ocean environment."

“Our broad vision is that, by 2035, New Jersey will be among the global leaders in offshore wind energy research, technology development and testing," said Bilgen.