New Jersey Invests Massively in Offshore Wind Power

Last week, Governor Phil Murphy announced plans for construction at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal on the Delaware River in southern New Jersey. Groundbreaking is scheduled for next month, with production to begin in 2023, AP reports.

“This is the largest industrial offshore wind investment in the United States to date, and will create hundreds of high-paying jobs at a time when New Jersey’s economy has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Democratic governor said. “Coupled with the creation of the New Jersey Wind Port that I announced earlier this year, this investment will continue to cement New Jersey as the leader in offshore wind in the United States.”

The Paulsboro project is being financed by Ørsted, currently working on a planned wind farm off the coast of Atlantic City. German company EEW, which supplies monopiles for Ørsted projects in Europe, is also involved. Additional support is coming from the federal state.

The monopiles to be built in the harbour have a diameter of up to 12 metres, a height of 120 metres and weigh 2.3 million kilograms each, which is roughly equivalent to the weight of 13 Boeing 747 aircrafts, explained Lee Laurendeau, CEO of EEW-American Offshore Structures.