Newark, NJ – August 4, 2023

Community Offshore Wind, a joint venture between RWE and National Grid Ventures, today submitted its plan to provide up to 1.3 GW of new offshore wind capacity to New Jersey. The proposal, submitted to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU), will generate enough power for more than 500,000 homes annually if selected. It will also deliver significant economic benefits to the region, including infusing an estimated $6 billion in economic benefits for New Jersey through programs to build an offshore wind workforce and supply chain.

The project will deliver on New Jersey’s ambitious climate goals set by Governor Phil Murphy, leveraging RWE’s experience as the second-largest offshore wind developer globally and National Grid’s expertise as a global leader in transmission infrastructure to deliver reliable, safe and affordable power to hundreds of thousands of New Jersey homes and businesses. 

Community Offshore Wind’s proposal will help the state create an offshore wind supply chain within its own borders, keeping jobs and economic benefits of future offshore wind projects in New Jersey. Additional investments in historically overburdened New Jersey communities will help to build and train a local clean energy workforce, and alleviate the most common barriers to entry for clean energy jobs, including a lack of access to transportation and childcare services.

COMMUNITY OFFSHORE WIND WILL DELIVER BENEFITS TO NEW JERSEY, INCLUDING:

Building an Equitable, Accessible and Diverse Clean Energy Future

• Community Offshore Wind’s proposal would create more than 1,700 good-paying jobs in New Jersey over the life of the project, prioritizing programs for union labor and workers from overburdened communities.
• Investment in the offshore wind workforce to access to reduced-cost transportation and childcare services. The services will be available to all offshore wind workers and trainees in New Jersey – even those not working with Community Offshore Wind – ensuring parents and workers from communities with limited public transportation or childcare resources will still have equitable access to new clean energy jobs.

 

Educating, Training and Supporting Tomorrow’s Workforce

• A five year investment in the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps (CCC), including funding for Newark, Trenton and Salem City, creating paid job training, job placement and post-placement support, with funding for 1,500 direct, full-time positions. This in addition to the 1,700 jobs created by Community Offshore Wind’s project.
• Community Offshore Wind recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the New Jersey AFL-CIO to negotiate a Labor Harmony Agreement to support the project once it is selected. This provides a pathway for workers to unionize in various phases of the project.

 

Creating an Offshore Wind Supply Chain in New Jersey

• Investment in New Jersey-based fabrication suppliers and local companies to open new manufacturing facilities and expand existing sites for the production of major steel fabricated components.
• A partnership with a Women-Owned Business Enterprise in New Jersey to manufacture a support vessel to deploy, dispatch, and collect technicians for Operations and Maintenance activities.
• Significant new funding for HAX, a NJ-based venture capital firm, to foster the next wave of climate and clean energy innovation by local, cutting-edge startups. The partnership will ensure the state remains a hub for innovation and help build the companies and industries needed to support a more resilient, climate-conscious economy, fueled by clean energy.
• A commitment to purchase a portion of all in-state goods and services from minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses.

 

Community Offshore Wind forecasts the project will reduce New Jersey’s electric system greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 52 million tons over the project lifetime (equivalent to taking over 11 million cars off the road) and marks a significant leap toward the state’s goal of bringing 11 GW of offshore wind online by 2040.

 

If selected by the NJBPU, Community Offshore Wind will deliver on these commitments for New Jersey.

“We are proud to submit this bid for a new Community Offshore Wind project with the potential to transform New Jersey into a nation-leading clean energy development, training and manufacturing hub,” said Doug Perkins, President & Project Director of Community Offshore Wind. “As the second-largest developer of offshore wind globally, RWE will leverage our longstanding expertise to maximize this project’s benefits to every worker, family and business in New Jersey. Our proposal is designed from start to finish to ensure this energy transition lifts up communities across the state and creates opportunity for all.”

“Community Offshore Wind will cut emissions and reduce reliance on aging power sources, while helping New Jersey’s leaders build the foundation of a greener, more resilient energy future,” said Pat Johnson, Vice President and Deputy Project Director for Community Offshore Wind. “The Northeast is National Grid’s home, and our longstanding experience delivering safe, reliable and efficient power to millions of homes across the region makes National Grid Ventures and RWE the perfect partners to New Jersey as the state embraces renewable energy and continues building its offshore wind capacity.”

National Grid and its legacy companies have operated in the Northeast for more than 125 years, and now serve the needs of more than 20 million people. National Grid Ventures brings local expertise and experience developing large-scale infrastructure projects across the US and UK.

RWE is one of the largest offshore wind companies globally, and its unparalleled expertise over the last 20 years has resulted in 19 offshore wind farms in operation. In addition, RWE has secured rights to one of the first commercial scale floating wind projects off the coast of northern California, and is a leading renewable developer in the U.S. with 8 GW of onshore wind, solar and storage capacity.

In February 2022, Community Offshore Wind was successful in acquiring its lease area (roughly 126,000 acres) in the New York Bight, the area between New Jersey and Long Island, with a potential capacity of over 3 GW of offshore wind.

Since its founding, Community Offshore Wind has made significant community investments, including a partnership with the New Jersey-based All Things Possible Foundation and local minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) and veteran-owned businesses to offer more than 60 students the opportunity to learn about STEAM careers through 10 interactive summer field trips. Community Offshore Wind also recently donated more than 60,000 meals of fresh, local seafood to 10 hunger relief organizations throughout New Jersey, in partnership with the Mend Hunger Relief Network and local fisheries.

 

Messages of support for Community Offshore Wind:

Charlie Wowkanech, President of the New Jersey AFL-CIO: “By executing a Memorandum of Understanding to negotiate a Labor Harmony Agreement with Community Offshore Wind, we are putting New Jerseyans on the path to capture long-term offshore wind careers for decades to come. The high-paying and skilled jobs in the operations and maintenance, manufacturing, and maritime sectors within offshore wind will help ensure our families have the economic prosperity to thrive throughout the State. The NJ AFL-CIO is proud to support Community Offshore Wind’s proposal to the BPU.”

Robin Peacock, Executive Director of the MEND Hunger Relief Network: “The Community Offshore Wind proposal underscores the project’s commitment to lifting up and supporting communities across our state – a commitment shared by MEND and our partners. Earlier this summer, we teamed up with Community Offshore Wind to provide 60,000 meals of local, fresh seafood to hunger relief organizations across the state. This is just one of the myriad ways that Community Offshore Wind plans to deliver resources to the overburdened communities that need it most, including investments in new supportive services to help New Jersey workers and families. We are confident they are the right partner for New Jersey and for the people that live here.” 

William Mullen, President of the New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council: “The New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council supports Community Offshore Wind’s commitments to utilize local New Jersey union construction labor. The Project will bring high-paying jobs and workforce development programming to our communities.  This is a generational opportunity for the building trades to be a key player in ensuring the clean energy industry leads to family-sustaining careers for generations.”

Bette Jean Yank, President of Yank Marine: “Community Offshore Wind was the first developer to ask for a NJ-made daughter craft to shuttle offshore workers to and from the project site at sea. Community Offshore Wind is dedicated to working with WBEs like Yank Marine and utilizing a Jones Act-compliant vessel for their project. The NJ BPU needs to select developers who are serious about keeping the offshore wind supply chain local and we look forward to our partnership with Community Offshore Wind.”

Cortney Koenig Worrall, President & CEO of the Waterfront Alliance: “Sustained investment in the New York and New Jersey waterfronts is critical to supporting the economies of local communities, protecting natural marine habitats, and improving quality of life for local residents, and Community Offshore Wind’s commitment to our shared vision is second to none. If Community Offshore Wind’s proposal is selected, we will work together to revitalize long-overlooked sites, creating accessible, local recreational opportunities while simultaneously helping to create a healthier, more resilient waterfront that will protect shoreline communities from worsening severe weather and rising water levels.”

Stephen M. Zemaitatis Jr., President and CEO of Riggs Distler: “We are excited to expand our partnership with Community Offshore Wind from New York into New Jersey, in close proximity to the Wind Port. Working together, we will localize offshore wind manufacturing in NJ through steel fabrication and bring new jobs to the area. We are partnering with Community Offshore Wind to create an efficient, innovative offshore wind supply chain, but also to bring long-term prosperity to local communities."

Lee Laurendeau, CEO of EEW-AOS: “We are excited that Community Offshore Wind has shown strong interest to support EEW AOS’s Phase 3 of the Paulsboro monopile facility. This will create additional jobs and opportunity beyond our current offshore wind commitments with other developers. We look forward to taking next steps together to expand manufacturing in New Jersey.” 

Duncan Turner, General Partner of SOSV, Managing Director of HAX: “SOSV’s HAX strategic partnership with Community Offshore Wind will accelerate innovation in the booming clean-energy sector where there is plenty of room for new technology to scale this vital part of the new energy infrastructure. We are looking to source and invest in startups dedicated to achieving decarbonization and fostering economic development in the New Jersey region. We are proud to collaborate with Community Offshore Wind and anticipate the rapid growth and success of the startups that emerge from this initiative.”

Rev. H. William Rutherford III, Pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church: "As a clergy member, I appreciate Community Offshore Wind’s willingness to listen to the needs of our congregants and community to ensure their projects are equitable. By addressing some of our most pressing needs, specifically workforce development and fair access to clean energy, Community Offshore Wind can be a welcome, valued, and contributing partner in New Jersey."

 

Community Offshore Wind

Community Offshore Wind, a joint venture between RWE and National Grid Ventures, will bring clean energy from offshore wind to the Northeast. We will develop offshore wind on the largest parcel in the New York Bight with the potential to host 3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, which is enough to power over one million US homes and businesses. The project is expected to be in operation by the beginning of the next decade. Community Offshore Wind is dedicated to investing in communities by bringing clean energy jobs to the region and growing the local economy. We will deliver sustainable energy safely, reliably and efficiently to the communities we serve. For more information, please visit communityoffshorewind.com.