Four new wind farms are being proposed off the New Jersey coast
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Wind power developers proposed four new projects off the New Jersey Shore on Friday, a surge that would more than double the number of wind farms built off its coast if they are approved by regulators.
At least two of them are more than twice as far out to sea than others that have drawn the ire of residents who don't want to see windmills on the horizon. These two would not be visible from the beach, the companies proposing them say.
They would join three wind farms already approved by New Jersey regulators as the state races to become the East Coast capital of the fast-growing offshore wind industry.
In the first project to be made public Friday by the companies proposing it, Essen, Germany-based RWE and New York-based National Grid applied for permission to build a wind farm in the waters off Long Beach Island. Their joint venture is called Community Offshore Wind, and it aims to generate enough electricity to power 500,000 homes.
Unlike other projects that have drawn intense opposition from homeowners in part because they are close enough to the Atlantic City and Ocean City shorelines to be seen by beachgoers, this project would be built 37 miles (59 kilometers) offshore and would not be visible from the shore, said Doug Perkins, president and project director of Community Offshore Wind.
He said the project has “the potential to transform New Jersey into a nation-leading clean energy development, training and manufacturing hub.” He said his company is the second-largest wind power developer globally, following Danish wind developer Orsted.
Community Offshore said it has not yet determined how many wind turbines would be built as
Read more on abcnews.go.com