New Jersey Governor John Corzine announced Monday an ambitious
plan to develop 3000 megawatts (MW) of energy from offshore wind farms
by 2020.
The plan, which would provide enough energy to power 800,000 homes
was praised by environmental groups.
"Governor Corzine’s plan to power 800,000 homes with clean wind energy
by 2020 is a gale force for change, moving us away from dirty power and
towards a new energy future. It is the most visionary plan to promote
offshore wind energy in the nation," said Dena Mottola Jaborska,
Executive Director of Environment New Jersey.
The Governor’s plan includes the simultaneous construction of
three offshore wind farms, or 1000 MW and sets a goal to develop 3000
MW of energy from offshore wind by 2020.
There are currently no off-shore wind farms in operation in the United States, but Delaware and Rhode Island
have both set plans to build one off their coasts in the next few
years. Worldwide, there are currently ten small-scale offshore wind
farms, with a total generating capacity of 587 MW, and over 3000 MW of
off shore wind capacity is in the planning stages across Europe.
"The Governor’s plan makes New Jersey a world wide leader in the
promotion of wind energy. His action today is a clarion call to other
coastal states around the nation to move quickly with plans to harness
the tremendous wind energy potential that exists off our nation’s
coasts. And it will have national policy implications as Congress
crafts national clean energy and global warming solutions in the coming
year," said Mottola Jaborska.
In 2005, New Jersey passed a law requiring that 20% of the
state’s electricity come from clean, renewable sources by 2020. The
plan announced today will ensure off-shore wind energy fulfills roughly
one-half of this requirement. Solar energy and landfill gas are
expected to fulfill much of the rest, and emerging technologies such as
wave power and small rooftop wind energy could also play a role.
Mottola Jaborska concluded, "The answer to our energy problems
is blowing in the wind. Wind energy is clean and affordable. It holds
the promise of economic security and a safer future free from the
harmful effects of climate change. We applaud Governor Corzine’s for
putting wind energy to work for New Jersey today."
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced last Friday that it has chosen Garden State Offshore Energy
(GSOE), a joint venture of PSEG Renewable Generation and Deepwater
Wind, as the preferred developer of one of the offshore windfarms.
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