New Jersey Needs More Space to Meet Its Offshore Wind Goals

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will need more space in the Atlantic Ocean to meet his goal to get half the state’s electricity from offshore wind farms.

There aren’t enough federal leases available off the coast of New York and New Jersey to supply the 7.5 gigawatts of wind farms that Murphy wants to develop by 2035, said Jim Bennett, a program manager for renewable power at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

“We will need to offer more lease areas,” Bennett said on a conference call Tuesday hosted by the Business Network for Offshore Wind. The Interior Department has identified areas that could be leased.

In June, New Jersey signed an agreement with Orsted A/S for its first installment of 1.1 gigawatts of offshore wind. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is seeking 9 gigawatts by 2035.

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