EDF Renewable Energy has entered into a preliminary agreement with Fishermen’s Energy to acquire the 24MW Atlantic City Wind Farm project located offshore New Jersey, US.
The initiative comes as a response to the goal of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy dedicated to promoting the development of 3.5GW of offshore wind by 2030, EDF said, emphasizing that the first step is to sponsor a near-term project.
According to EDF, the project will generate skilled offshore wind construction and operations jobs, positioning New Jersey’s workforce to build gigawatts of wind projects offshore New Jersey and the US Atlantic coast.
These workers will be the first wave of the nearly 40,000 jobs that are expected to be created in the US, building the 8GW target the states committed to achieving by 2030, the company said.
EDF believes the project will further serve to improve environmental management by providing a laboratory for testing of new avian monitoring and marine mammal sensing technologies, which is expected to ultimately inform cost reduction for future projects.
“EDF RE is excited by the Governor’s ambitious plans to be a leader in the offshore wind space and we are eager to work with Fishermen’s Energy to provide an immediate opportunity for New Jersey to gain the benefit of local investment, jobs, infrastructure, and experience,“ said Doug Copeland , EDF Renewable Energy’s Regional Project Development Manager.
“The U.S. offshore wind industry is poised for tremendous growth and we believe an early stage project will help New Jersey develop the infrastructure to support this rapidly growing industry.”
Atlantic City Wind Farm
Located some three miles off the coast of Atlantic City, the USD 200 million demonstration project comprises six Siemens 4MW turbines.
In May 2016, the Department of Energy granted the project a no-cost extension until the end of the year to secure a power offtake agreement and continue to receive funding as one of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) three Offshore Wind Advanced Technology Demonstration Projects.
The Atlantic City Wind Farm project lost the government funding in January 2017 after missing the deadline to secure a power offtake agreement.