The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved a combined 2,658 megawatts of offshore wind capacity Ørsted’s 1,148 MW Ocean Wind II and EDF and Shell’s 1,510 MW Atlantic Shores. Both will be around 15 miles off the Atlantic City coast. Ocean Wind II joins Ørsted’s 1,100 MW Ocean Wind I, which uses GE Haliade X 12 MW turbines and is expected to provide first power in late 2024.The two wind farms will bring New Jersey total planned capacity to over 3.7 gigawatts and moves the state closer to Governor Phil Murphy’s (D-NJ) goal of 7.5 GW of offshore wind by 2035 and 100% clean energy by 2050. It was the US’s largest combined award to date.
The two projects are expected to create 7,000 full- or part-time jobs, generate $3.5 billion in economic benefits, and power 1.15 million homes with clean energy. Construction will begin on Atlantic Shores in 2024. A spokesperson told Electrek that Ocean Wind 2 is expected to be commissioned in 2029, but did not say when construction would commence.
According to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Quickening the transition to clean energy can grow the world’s economy by 2.4% over the expected growth of current plans within the next decade. The World Energy Transitions Outlook: 1.5°C Pathway report says that by 2050, $33 trillion of additional investment is needed in efficiency, renewables, end-use electrification, power grids, flexibility, hydrogen, and innovations. The benefits greatly exceed the costs.
IRENA foresees the creation of up to 122 million energy-related jobs in 2050, more than double today’s 58 million. Renewable energy will account for more than one-third of all energy jobs, employing 43 million people.When air pollution, human health, and climate change externalities are factored in, the payback is even higher, with every dollar spent on the energy transition adding benefits valued at between $2 and $5.50, and in cumulative terms between $61 trillion and $164 trillion by 2050.
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