Onshore construction for New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm kicked off in Lacey Township on Monday, with more work slated for Island Beach State Park next week.
The Oct. 10 construction includes work to ultimately install copper and aluminum cables meant to connect with the electric grid at substations located at former power plants in Ocean and Cape May Counties.
Work at the state park will run from this month to May 2024 before resuming next September so as to not disturb summer tourism, according to officials with Danish energy developer, Ørsted.
The cables, which the company will begin installing at a parking lot near Island Beach State Park, will be buried except for overhead lines that will connect to stations at both sites. Construction of an onshore export cable in Lacey Township will take place in different stages through August 2024.
Both updates, which mark the first-ever construction for Ocean Wind 1, bring the Jersey Shore ever closer to planned offshore construction for the project — what would be a watershed in New Jersey’s ambitious clean energy goals.
Work offshore for the turbines is scheduled to begin between April and June 2024, a presentation by Ørsted during a virtual public information session Wednesday night indicated. A spokesperson said Thursday afternoon that before offshore construction begins, Ocean Wind 1 needs additional final federal authorizations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as several state and local construction permits.
Company officials said they were able to start the work this week after a Construction and Operations Plan was approved by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, on Sept. 21.
The wind farm and others like it have been lauded by environmentalists, criticized by some including local politicians and at the center of more than a year’s worth of controversy.
Progress on Ocean Wind 1 came a week after a Stockton University poll showed public support for offshore wind turbines in the Garden State appears to be waning. Some of the reasons for opposition, according to survey respondents, included the unfounded scientific link between wind development and marine mammal deaths, worries Jersey Shore views could be marred by turbine blades and some hesitation now that project work is closer to reality.
With the project ever-embroiled in politics, lawsuits and debate over economic viability, local Jersey Shore groups continue to try to urge developers to pause or cancel offshore wind work.
But Gov. Phil Murphy has championed the projects and Ørsted officials said they are mindful of various concerns as they begin the construction phase.
BOEM determined serious harm won’t come to marine mammals as a result of the project, company officials reiterated Wednesday. Federal regulations also require work stoppages under certain conditions and vessel speed restrictions to minimize effects on marine life.
Cable routes were chosen after consulting with federal agencies on where the “least impacts” on “marine users” would be, Katharine Perry, permit manager for Ocean Wind 1, said Wednesday.
“We are required and will be establishing a compensatory mitigation fund to offset the loss of any impact that the project could have on the fishing industry,” said Perry.
Project managers with Ørsted said Shore Road next to Island Beach State Park will remain open during the work — albeit limited to one lane by a construction zone at one point.
Fences will be installed around the property, steel plates will cover the streetscape when workers are not on-site and overnight guards will be on hand. Parts of the road and parking lot will be restored if damaged during the cable installation.
Ocean Wind 1, one of at least two New Jersey projects Ørsted is helming, will include as many as 98 offshore wind turbines set to soar more than 850 feet as well as three onshore substations. The offshore wind farm is planned for a leasing area about 15 miles from the coasts of Cape May and Atlantic Counties.
Ocean Wind 1 will have the capacity to generate about 1,100 megawatts of clean energy — able to power about 500,000 homes, contributing to the state’s goal to produce 11,000 megawatts of usage by 2040.
Ørsted leadership told investors in August that issues like the worsening supply chain may cause it to write off more than $2.2 billion in losses and could result in it walking away from Jersey Shore and East Coast development. Two different wind developers recently pulled out from offshore wind projects in Massachusetts.
Spokespeople for Ørsted said federal permit setbacks were exacerbated by other factors like supply chain hurdles and high interest rates.
However Ørsted officials said in a statement toward the end of September that while delayed about two years, Ocean Wind 1′s offshore turbines were on pace to be in commercial operation between 2025 and 2026.
That timeline is subject to change and it’s unclear exactly when turbines will be fully up and running.
MORE COVERAGE:
- Fewer people in N.J. support offshore wind, now that it’s closer to happening, poll says
- Rules to protect whales issued to offshore wind firm prepping for N.J. construction
- Company with plans for N.J.’s 4th offshore wind project also to build in N.Y. harbor
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Steven Rodas may be reached at srodas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @stevenrodasnj.