>Friday, October 03, 2008 11:52 AM
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350 MW wind farm will generate clean energy and jobs for New Jersey
Located 16 to 20 miles from NJ coast, project expected to have little impact on environment or ocean views
NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJ BPU) today announced that it has chosen Garden State Offshore Energy (GSOE), a joint venture of PSEG Renewable Generation and Deepwater Wind, as the preferred developer of a 350-megawatt wind farm off the coast of New Jersey. As the preferred developer, GSOE will proceed with evaluation of the project’s environmental impacts and wind resources quality as well as begin the permitting process at both the state and federal levels.
GSOE’s proposal calls for 96 wind turbines arranged in a rectangular grid 16 to 20 miles off the coast of Cape May and Atlantic counties (for map showing location in relation to N.J. coast, go to www.gardenstatewind.com). At this distance, the wind farm would be barely visible from shore, addressing one of the major concerns of beach communities. The wind farm could begin generating energy in 2012 with the entire project operational in 2013.
The New Jersey Energy Master Plan (EMP) calls for 20 percent of the state’s New Jersey’s energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, a major portion of which is envisioned to be from offshore wind. This decision marks the state’s ongoing commitment to aggressively encourage the expansion and creation of clean energy solutions to meet the state’s energy needs.
The foundations, turbines and towers are planned to be assembled on land and will be transported to the wind farm site via large-scale barges. Assuming a suitable site can be found, turbine assembly and port facilities are expected to be located in New Jersey and create local green jobs.
‘PSEG believes that to meet the challenges of climate change, we need to move forward in three areas — expanding energy efficiency and conservation, investing in renewables and planning for additional clean central station power,’ said Ralph Izzo, chairman, CEO and president of PSEG. ‘We believe that offshore energy has great potential to bring clean energy and jobs to New Jersey.’
‘Deepwater Wind is excited to partner with PSEG and the State of New Jersey.
PSE&G press release