Wind power in New Jersey is in the early stages of development. New Jersey has just six wind turbines, all land based, but the state has plans to develop several major offshore wind projects on the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern Jersey Shore. Legislation has been enacted to support the industry through economic incentives and to permit wind turbines on existing piers.
In October 2010, the North American Offshore Wind Conference was held in Atlantic City, site of the US's first on-shore coastal facility. New Jersey is part of the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium. As of 2013, 9MW were produced by wind power.[1]
Despite incentives to spur the industry in the state, development initially lagged with the cancellation of the planned Fisherman's Energy offshore wind project.[2] In 2018, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order to revive subsidies for wind power in the state.[3][4] In September 2018, the state began to solicit bids for projects offshore.[5][6] In June 2019, the state awarded a contract for a wind farm 15 miles off Atlantic City.[7] to Ørsted US Offshore Wind for Ocean Wind. In November 2019 Murphy signed an executive order which established a wind power target of 7,500 MW by 2035.[8][9] He increased this goal to 11,000 MW by 2040 in September 2022.[10] In July 2021, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved two projects which would bring the state's committed windpower capacity to over 3,000 MW.[11] The BPU announced a third solicitation for 1,200–4,000 MW in December 2022[12] and awarded contracts for two projects with 3,742 MW in January 2024.[13]