Governor Murphy announces nation's first wind port in New Jersey
NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced New Jersey Wind Port, the nation's first purpose-built marshalling and manufacturing port dedicated to the offshore wind industry.
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," Governor Murphy said.
The new infrastructure project will build a wind port in South Jersey. The site will be located at Hope Creek on Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek Township, next to the Hope Creek Nuclear power plant.
Overall, the cost of the project will be $300-$400 million and create close to 1,500 permanent jobs in manufacturing and assembly. The project will generate $500 million a year in economic activity and produce hundreds of good construction jobs.
The governor vowed that the wind port will be inclusive in every aspect, with a focus on a diverse union workforce in its construction, and bringing women-and minority-owned businesses to the project.
The New Jersey Wind Port "is critical to our goals of 7,500 MW of offshore wind by 2035 and a 100% clean energy NJ by 2050," Murphy said.
The governor said that he feels the wind port will help position New Jersey's economy for growth by investing in the state's infrastructure, future, and thousands of green-economy jobs.
"We aim to begin construction on the New Jersey Wind Port in 2021 with a 25-acre manufacturing site and a 30-acre marshalling and staging site coming online first," Murphy said.
The facility will be owned and operated by New Jersey. The location of the site, Artificial Island, is a man-made island created by deposited fill from dredging operations. Land use in the areas adjacent to the exclusion zone consists of commercial, government, agricultural, and residential properties.
The project calls for building a port assembly facility for offshore wind starting in mid-2023 and finishing in 2024. In 2026, construction of the manufacturing facility will begin.
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