Report suggests New Jersey’s offshore wind construction industry is behind schedule
The governor and state economic growth officials say New Jersey could miss its moment to be a leader in the growing offshore wind industry.
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A new report finds that New Jersey’s offshore wind construction industry could be up to a year behind schedule.
This comes as Gov. Phil Murphy’s chief economic development official says getting federal tax credits to offshore wind companies is “mission critical” to making the Garden State a leader in the new industry.
“Someone’s going to get to be the capital of American offshore wind. Does New Jersey want it, or do we want to let New York or Maryland or Virginia or Massachusetts get it?” asks Tim Sullivan, CEO of the Economic Development Authority.
The governor and state economic growth officials say New Jersey could miss its moment to be a leader in the growing offshore wind industry.
“The timetable’s up in the air. The manufacturing jobs are where some of the challenges on timing are starting to be,” says Sullivan.
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Sullivan and board members received an update on the South Jersey Wind Port in Salem County at a board meeting in Fort Monmouth on Wednesday.
“Salem County’s got about 65,000 people in it. We’re talking about 1,500+ permanent jobs there. That’s a huge impact on a part of the state that could really use it,” Sullivan says.
That Wind Port is still under construction, but workers there and at a facility in Paulsboro will assemble the bases for the statuesque wind turbines which will eventually go up in the Atlantic Ocean. Delays caused by everything from inflation to Russia’s war in Ukraine are setting the construction projects back.
Murphy says he wants lawmakers to let the state dole out federal tax credits to offshore wind companies.
“The thing about the Wind Port that sometimes gets lost in the debate is that thing is going to have revenue - make money - over time. That’s actually going to be good for the taxpayers,” says Sullivan.
Also supporting this move is Democratic former state Senate President Steve Sweeney. His Sweeney Center for Public Policy at Rowan University authored the report that said offshore wind could be delayed.
“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 wrote in a statement.
The South Jersey Wind Port is located in Sweeney’s former state Senate district. The Wind Port has already received hundreds of millions in direct state aid.
“Are we going to let it pass by and let someone else win and we play for second or third or fifth or sixth in this competition? I think New Jersey wants to be No. 1,” says Sullivan.
Sullivan says there is no more state money for the Wind Port currently in the upcoming state budget.
