New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has announced on Wednesday that his state will move ahead with 3,500MW of offshore wind by 2030. He directed the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to establish an Offshore Wind Strategic Plan focusing on job growth, workforce development, data collection, and protection of offshore natural resources.
Recently New York issued its new Offshore Wind Master Plan. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state is seeking offshore wind farms totaling 2,400 MW. New York is aiming at a 16,000 square-mile section of the Atlantic extending from New York City and the south shore of Long Island. Statoil won the first lease in New York in 2016 for an area 20 miles south of Long Island where it plans a 600MW wind farm called Empire Wind. Once it finds a buyer for the power, construction could begin in 2023. Cuomo in January announced two initial solicitations for a total of 800 MW in 2018 and 2019, plus US$ 15 million for training and port development. Also Connecticut recently announced an RFP for clean energy as well, which includes up to about 220MW of offshore wind power.
A new study coauthored by New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the Clean Energy States Alliance, U.S. Job Creation in Offshore Wind, finds that 8GW of offshore wind from Maryland to Maine will create almost 40,000 full-time U.S. jobs by 2028; 86 GW by 2050 would support 160,000 jobs.