Offshore Wind in New Jersey

Offshore Wind in New Jersey

Offshore Wind in New Jersey

Sweeney Center: NJ still in forefront on offshore wind, but future of key EEW AOS monopile plant at risk  

New Jersey remains in the forefront of U.S. offshore wind development with ambitious energy production goals and major investments in supply chain and port infrastructure, but the future of its first-in-the nation monopile manufacturing facility is clouded, according to Benchmarking New Jersey on Offshore Wind,   a study by the Sweeney Center for Public Policy at Rowan University. 

“Today’s report takes a hard look at where New Jersey stacks up on offshore wind,” said Steve Sweeney, who chairs the policy center. “We have moved aggressively as a state over the past five years to put ourselves in position to be the national leader in both offshore wind development and job creation.  

“Competition between states and companies is increasingly intense. With New York allowing Orsted to use federal offshore wind tax credits, we need to do the same to make sure that the EEW AOS monopile manufacturing facility in Paulsboro is able to expand, increase union jobs and supply our offshore wind farms with American-made components,” Sweeney said.  

Sweeney Center Director Mark Magyar, the report’s author, said Benchmarking New Jersey on Offshore Wind puts New Jersey’s offshore wind development initiatives in national context and examines the state’s efforts to gain jobs and economic growth in the increasingly competitive green energy sector. 

“While Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind 1 is under construction and will be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the nation, New Jersey has been the leader in supply chain, manufacturing and port infrastructure investment,” Magyar said. “What is at risk is the future of the EEW AOS monopile plant, which was the first major private sector investment in creating a U.S.-based manufacturing industry to supply the offshore wind industry.

“The EDA’s $400 million New Jersey Wind Port is the nation’s largest port facility investment. Governor Murphy set the most ambitious offshore wind target in the nation and his Administration has been particularly aggressive in requiring companies to invest in New Jersey projects as a condition of power purchase agreements,” he said.

Read the report


Sweeney Center Conference on Offshore Wind 

From Rowan Today, May 4, 2023 - New Jersey is leading the East Coast in offshore wind technology, but the challenges that remain span politics, workforce preparation, policy and more. Rowan University will play a critical role in filling the gaps so that offshore wind energy generation may soon produce a third of the state’s energy needs.

Industry leaders, government officials, and other experts came together on May 3 to highlight the progress and challenges of making clean wind energy production a reality in South Jersey at a conference hosted by the Steve Sweeney Center for Public Policy at Rowan.

“Offshore Wind Technology in New Jersey: Sustainability, Emerging Markets and Policy” featured among its speakers, including many others, former New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, Congressman Donald Norcross, and Shawn LaTourette, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection." more here

Articles on the event:

Speakers included Robert Asaro-Angelo and Shawn LaTourette, commissioners of the NJ Department of Labor & Workforce Development and Department of Environmental Protection; Tim Sullivan, Director of the NJ Economic Development Authority; Congressman Donald Norcross; former Senate President Steve Sweeney; Rowan University President Ali Houshmand; Rowan College of South Jersey President Frederick Keating; Giuseppe R. Palmese, Dean of the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering; and senior officials from JCP&L, PSE&G, Orsted, Atlantic Shores and Invenergy.

The conference was held at Rowan’s Student Center Ballroom on Wednesday, May 3.

See the Program Here


Sweeney: N.J.'s Mushrooming Offshore Wind Industry Is a Boon for Jobs and the Climate

In an opinion article published on NJ.com, Steve Sweeney, the Center's Advisory Board chairperson, touts New Jersey's role as a nationwide leader in spurring major investments at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal and the New Jersey Wind Port in Salem County to support and supply the offshore wind  industry.