New Jersey has selected Atlantic Shores, a partnership between Shell New Energies and EDF Renewables, and Ørsted to deliver around 2.66GW of offshore wind power to the state.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities awarded Atlantic Shores a contract to develop a 1.51GW offshore wind project to supply power to over 700,000 homes. This is the largest single project in New Jersey and the third-largest in the US.

The wind farm will be located approximately 16-32 km off the coast of New Jersey between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light and should bring $848m in guaranteed local economic benefits to the state. Atlantic Shores plans to start construction in 2024 and generate power in two phases in 2027 and 2028.

In addition, Ørsted has been approved to press ahead with its 1.15 GW Ocean Wind 2 offshore wind energy project. According to Ørsted, Ocean Wind 2 will generate over $4.8bn in net economic benefits for the state.

The Ocean Wind 2 project will allow Ørsted to develop the remaining portion of its Ocean Wind federal lease area and will power more than half a million New Jersey homes. The wind farm will be located adjacent to the company’s first offshore wind project, Ocean Wind 1, which was awarded in 2019. Together, the two projects will deliver over 2.2 GW of offshore wind power.

New Jersey has set a goal of installing 7.5 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2035 and Ørsted and Atlantic Shores will now deliver close to half of that capacity.