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The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has formally vacated all orders that approved the Ocean Wind One and Ocean Wind Two offshore wind projects owned by Danish developer Ørsted.
NJBPU’s actions follow the filing of lawsuits by the County of Cape May in the New Jersey Appellate Division as well as in the Federal District Court. Cape May County challenged the orders, all of which have now been vacated and deemed of no force or effect.
The State of New Jersey agreed to let Ørsted keep $175m in escrow funds in exchange for vacating the BPU Orders.
“The vacation of these orders means that it will be much more difficult for Ørsted or any other Big Wind company to utilise these lease areas just a few miles off Cape May County beaches. As we have seen in Nantucket over the past few weeks, the disintegration of a single turbine blade has led to tens of thousands of pounds of fibreglass, foam, industrial adhesive, and other contaminants in the water and washing up on local beaches, which have had to be closed. We cannot allow that to happen to Cape May County,” said Cape May County Commission Director Len Desiderio.
The main issue regarding the orders for Cape May County was environmental, exacerbated by the blade incident in Nantucket a 115,000-pound turbine blade broke and disintegrated. No one was hurt by the incident, but the island beaches were strewn with fibreglass shards and green and white foam.
The County of Cape May is also supporting the efforts of the City of Brigantine in Atlantic County in its opposition to the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project. Atlantic Shores will be only eight miles off Brigantine and will be visible from the north end of Cape May County.
“[If a blade disintegrates] in the Atlantic Shores project, given the typical southerly currents close to shore, Cape May County’s beaches would be strewn with thousands of pieces of jagged fibreglass and foam. This would be devastating to families and businesses that depend on our beaches for their livelihood. This includes everything from restaurants and retail shops to amusement piers and campgrounds,” said Michael Donohue, former New Jersey Superior Court judge and Cape May County special counsel for offshore wind.
Ørsted decided to cease the development of its Ocean Wind One and Two projects late last year. The offshore wind giant stated that the discontinuation of the projects was a consequence of additional supplier delays further impacting the project schedule and leading to an additional significant project delay. |
