Green Jersey

N.J. blows a kiss to offshore wind

Image via phault.

New Jersey may deliver the country’s first offshore wind farm yet.

On Friday, the state Board of Public Utilities approved a $1.1 billion project that would be built off the coast of Atlantic City and Avalon.

The developer is Garden State Offshore Energy — a joint venture between energy giant PSE&G and the smaller, newer Deepwater Wind — which is to receive a $4 million state grant for construction.

What it means: 96 turbines located 16 miles southeast of Atlantic City, powering up to 125,000 homes. Stuck 75 to 125 feet below sea level and rising 240 to 300 feet above sea level (when a blade is straight up, says the Bergen Record).

The Hoboken-based Deepwater is on a roll — a week earlier, it was chosen to develop a $1 billion-plus wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island that could eventually generate 15 percent of that state’s energy, according to the Providence Journal. The 3-year-old company has 15 employees.

PSEG renewable energy spokesman Paul Rosengren told the Atlantic City Press the company was confident it could build the New Jersey project even as credit markets continue to dry up, because both companies are financially strong.

While other approvals have been granted, the N.J. wind farm has the potential to be first in the country. For bragging rights, or whatever else it’s worth.

Construction is to begin in 2010 at the eariest, after the requisite permits are acquired and an ecological study is completed by the DEP, says the BPU.

The project is expected to have a 25-year lifetime and avoid pollution equivalent to 11 million tons of CO2 and 349 pounds of mercury that would be generated by traditional fossil fuel-burning power plants, according to the company (via the Press). The company has equated this to planting 2 million trees, taking 1.5 million cars off the road or not burning 16 million barrels of oil per year.

After the jump: (Largely positive) reactions from environmental groups, via the Record.

While most environmental groups in New Jersey support the idea of offshore wind farms, the American Littoral Society opposes it. The coastal conservation group, based in Sandy Hook, said that driving the turbines into the ocean floor will kill marine life and cause pollution.

But members of the Sierra Club and Environment New Jersey said the benefit of wind power will far outweigh any disturbance on the ocean floor.

“Up until now, it’s been a lot of talk about renewable energy,” said Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club. “Today, they took steps to protect New Jersey’s environment.”

The Department of Environmental Protection is studying the potential impact on birds and marine life. The company will need to get permits from the state DEP and the federal Minerals Management Service, which would lease portions of the ocean floor to builders.

More: Partnership OK’d for offshore wind farm (Bergen Record)

N.J. picks PSEG/Deepwater to build wind farm (Reuters)

N.J. grants Garden State Offshore Energy right to build wind farm off Avalon (Atlantic City Press)