NJEDA TO COMMENCE NEXT PHASE OF TENANT SELECTION FOR NJ WIND PORT
TARGETING BLADE AND OTHER LARGE TIER 1 COMPONENT MANUFACTURERS WITH 70-PLUS ACRE PARCEL
Trenton, N.J. (May 20, 2022) – The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) today announced that it will shortly launch the next phase of its eagerly-anticipated tenant selection process for the New Jersey Wind Port. This phase will involve seeking offers from Tier 1 wind component manufacturers, such as blades, for an approximately 70-acre parcel of property at the Port.
The New Jersey Wind Port, located on the Delaware River in Lower Alloways Creek, Salem County, will be a transformative, hub-style port serving offshore wind projects in New Jersey and up and down the U.S. East Coast. The Port is being developed by the NJEDA on behalf of the State and represents a new approach to economic development that will spur both job creation and opportunities for businesses throughout the offshore wind supply chain. It has the potential to create up to 1,500 manufacturing, assembly, and operations jobs, with wind projects supported by the Port driving billions more dollars in economic growth.
The Port is situated at the geographical center of the United States’ burgeoning offshore wind sector – with approximately 40 gigawatts (GW) of committed and planned offshore wind projects along the East Coast, including 7.5 GW of projects off the coast of New Jersey. The Port will offer offshore wind industry tenants the following key features:
- Access to the Atlantic Ocean free of vertical restrictions;
- Upland acreage purpose-built for marshalling and component manufacturing;
- A wide approach channel from the main Delaware River Channel;
- A purpose-built heavy-lift wharf, comprising both delivery and installation berths; and
- Heavy-haul Road connections between inland port parcels and the Wharf.
The NJEDA will shortly seek non-binding offers from Tier 1 offshore wind component manufacturers, such as blades manufacturers, for an approximately 70-acre parcel at the Port. The parcel is currently undeveloped but is intended to be purpose-built for manufacturing and would adjoin a deep-water port. The parcel would be connected to two marshalling parcels via a purpose-built heavy-haul road corridor, providing unrivalled cost efficiencies for a manufacturer and their developer clients. The NJEDA anticipates that the parcel will be available for sublease from late-2026. A notice for the sublease of property will be issued in coming weeks and will be available at Bidding Opportunities – NJEDA.
“There is simply no better site to anchor an offshore wind manufacturing facility in the nation than at the New Jersey Wind Port, the nation’s only purpose-built greenfield wind port and epicenter of the nation’s fast emerging wind supply chain hub,” said NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan. “For a manufacturer, being co-located with two marshalling parcels means significantly lower logistics costs, a win for industry and a win for energy consumers. At the same time, being part of the nation’s supply chain hub means ready access to a growing ecosystem of tier two suppliers across Southern New Jersey and throughout the state.”
Home to a high concentration of skilled labor, a well-established maritime industry and workforce, and a network of highly-regarded colleges and universities, New Jersey is ideally-placed to drive the development of the offshore wind industry in the United States.
“Manufacturing critical components of the offshore wind supply chain here in New Jersey will not only benefit our own offshore wind projects, but the entire industry up and down the East Coast,” said New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) President Joseph L. Fiordaliso. “By diversifying the manufacturing opportunities available, we will bring more jobs and economic development opportunities to the Garden State as we work to achieve Governor Murphy’s goal of 7.5 GW by 2035.”
Last fall, Governor Phil Murphy led the celebration for the New Jersey Wind Port’s groundbreaking, alongside Federal Secretary of Labor, Martin J. Walsh and a host of state and local officials. The event also included the signing of a Project Labor Agreement (PLA), with the State committed to using union labor to construct the Port and to setting a new standard for inclusion of minority and women workers and business owners.
Governor Murphy announced last month that the NJEDA and Orsted North America had executed a letter of intent (LOI) for Orsted to marshal its Ocean Wind 1 project from the Port. As part of its bid to the NJBPU Orsted had proposed to marshal Ocean Wind from an interstate port, with its commitment to instead use the Wind Port creating over 200 pre-assembly, load out and stevedoring jobs in New Jersey that would otherwise have been lost to other states.
Core construction of the Wind Port commenced in January of this year, with the first phase of the Port due to reach completion in early 2024.
Further information on the Port is available at: https://www.nj.gov/windport/.
Article Courtesy of the NJEDA