Sierra Club NJ: Pro-Wind Energy, But Against Atlantic City OWF

Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter has voiced its opinion over the 24MW Atlantic City Wind Farm after a bill reviving the pilot project was approved by the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee on 22 March. The organisation is looking at the project as not being the best option to reach the state’s offshore wind targets.

“We normally support wind projects in New Jersey, however; we have concerns that this legislation will end up hurting our ability to get to our goal of 3500 MW by 2030,” said Jeff Tittel, the director of the Sierra Club chapter.

The bill A2485 (S1217), which requires the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ (BPU) to consider and approve an amended application for the pilot wind farm, has now moved to the full Assembly and had a second reading before the Assembly Appropriations Committee on 5 April, according to the New Jersey Legislature’s website.

Namely, the BPU has been rejecting the project since 2014, arguing that the costs are too high. When the 24MW pilot wind farm was listed to receive the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) funding of USD 46.7 million, the developer Fishermen’s Energy hoped BPU would see it as a sign to move the project forward. However, this did not happen and, after the BPU dismissed the project, Fishermen’s Energy took the decision to the state’s appellate court and later on to the supreme court. Last year, the project also faced another setback as it lost the federal government funding after missing a deadline to secure a power offtake agreement.

Now, as the bill pushing for the construction of the project is moving through the state legislature system, Sierra Club addressed its proximity to the coast and voiced its standpoint that the state needs to focus on large-scale offshore wind development.

“We need to focus on putting together programs and mechanisms to get the 1100 MW built further off the coast. This will help make our long-term goals a reality. Offshore wind is the most reliable and cost-effective form of offshore power. Instead of being visible so close to shore, we should build 15 to 20 miles off the coast where there is more sustainable wind and fewer environmental impacts. We believe we should be pushing for these long-term goals before funding any other, smaller, projects,” Jeff Tittel stated.

Located some three miles off the coast of Atlantic City, the demonstration project will comprise six Siemens Gamesa 4MW turbines.

Aside from it being close to mainland, the environmental organisation also pointed to the project costs, which amount to USD 210 million.

“The cost-to-scale would make this project three to four times more expensive than doing a large-scale project further off the coast. Our concern is that if the project becomes too expensive or has environmental impacts because it’s too close to shore, it could also undermine public support for the larger offshore wind projects. Instead of building these 4 towers 2.8 miles from the shore, we should be building 200 of them 15 to 20 miles from shore,” Tittel said.

At the beginning of April, EDF Renewable Energy entered into a preliminary agreement with Fishermen’s Energy to acquire the Atlantic City Wind Farm.

According to EDF, the project will generate skilled offshore wind construction and operations jobs, positioning the state’s workforce to build gigawatts of wind projects offshore New Jersey and the US Atlantic coast. The company also said it believed the project will further serve to improve environmental management by providing a laboratory for testing of new avian monitoring and marine mammal sensing technologies, which is expected to ultimately inform cost reduction for future projects.