February 26, 2024 — New Jersey’s offshore wind industry is beginning to see brighter prospects ahead, after stumbling through a series of setbacks over the past several months.
On Halloween, clean-energy advocates were stunned when Ørsted, the world’s largest developer of offshore wind projects, abruptly walked away from its state-backed plan to build two wind farms off the New Jersey coast.
The decision came after a few brutal months for the offshore wind industry. Dead whales, dolphins and seals washed ashore on beaches. Critics blamed vessels working to prepare sites for offshore-wind installations for their deaths. The pandemic crashed the sector’s supply chain, pushed borrowing costs much higher and sparked the steepest inflation in years. Critics argued the projects were too costly for customers.
Earlier this month, Ørsted announced it was also pulling out of projects in Norway, Portugal and Spain, once again citing supply-chain disruptions and high interest rates.