EDF Renewables North America and Fishermen’s Energy have submitted a joint petition for approval of the Nautilus (former Atlantic City) offshore wind project in New Jersey, US.
This April, EDF announced that it had entered into a preliminary agreement with Fishermen’s Energy to acquire the fully developed 24MW Nautilus wind farm, which came as a response to Governor Phil Murphy’s goal of having 3.5GW of offshore wind in New Jersey by 2030.
According to the company, the project represents a crucial opportunity for the state to gain the immediate benefit of local investment, jobs, infrastructure and offshore experience ahead of many other states looking to capitalize on offshore wind.
The two parties expect the Nautilus wind farm to generate skilled offshore wind construction and operations jobs, positioning the local workforce to build projects offshore New Jersey and the Atlantic Coast.
These workers will be the first wave of the nearly 40,000 jobs expected to be created in the US, contributing to the 8GW goal the states committed to achieving by 2030.
The project is also expected to further serve to improve environmental management by providing a laboratory for testing new avian monitoring and marine mammal sensing technologies.
The Nautilus offshore wind farm will comprise three to four wind turbines, with an official announcement on the turbine selection coming in the near future, Doug Copeland, Regional Project Development Manager at EDF Renewable Energy, told Offshore WIND.
The wind turbines will be installed approximately three miles off the coast of Atlantic City, with the commissioning expected by 2020.
NOTE: The original article was edited on 8 August.