Posted on January 16, 2023
The State of New Jersey has secured another anchor tenant for the New Jersey Wind Port, the nation’s first purpose-built port for wind farm construction staging.
Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind – a joint venture between Shell and EDF – has signed a letter of intent to lease 35 acres at the new port, which it will use to support its 1.5 gigawatt wind project off the coast of southern New Jersey. The project will create more than 200 new jobs at the site once work begins, including workers for preassembly and installation, stevedores and project managers.
Atlantic Shores’ lease will begin in mid-2026 and last for up to three years while it builds out the wind farm, with options to extend as needed. It first signaled its interest in the New Jersey Wind Port in 2021, while it was applying for state permitting approval.
“Atlantic Shores is thrilled to partner with the NJEDA and utilize the New Jersey Wind Port to marshal the materials and resources required to deliver New Jersey’s largest offshore wind project,” said Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind CEO Joris Veldhoven. “The location offers outstanding waterside access without barriers to transporting assembled turbines vertically and allows us to tap into New Jersey’s highly skilled talent pool.”
Atlantic Shores’ new neighbors will include Danish offshore wind developer Orsted, which signed an LOI to use the port last year. In addition, Vestas – which will be supplying the turbines for Atlantic Shores – plans to set up a nacelle assembly facility at the New Jersey Wind Port, where workers will put together and test turbine components built overseas. Vestas’ ongoing maintenance service will be based out of nearby Atlantic City.
The wind port is located next to the Salem Nuclear Power Plant on the New Jersey shore of the Delaware Bay, about 40 nm inland from Cape May. It has unobstructed air draft all the way to the sea, which is a key enabling factor for offshore wind turbine installation. The port is one of a growing number of competing wind “hub” ports in the Mid-Atlantic region, along with the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, the Rossville Municipal Site, the Arthur Kill Terminal, the Port of New London State Pier and the Salem Harbor Wind Terminal, among others.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has pledged to put $200 million into the New Jersey Wind Port’s infrastructure, and AECOM Tishman is leading site construction.
