Wind Power News: New Jersey
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
Renewable energy hitting a snag
Despite their penchant for saving money in the long run, renewable energy projects may face a slump during the economic downturn because of high upfront costs.
The two most popular projects in New Jersey — solar panel installations and more recently, wind farms — are expensive even with government incentives, some of which are being pulled back.
“Emerging technology and other long-range investments are often the first to suffer when the economy turns,” said Frank Felder director of the Center . . .
Long delay for parts deals blow to wind-energy projects
If all goes according to plan, Garden State Offshore Energy’s offshore wind farm, first approved back in October, will have wind turbines out to sea and generating electricity by 2012.
That’s the same year that Gov. Jon S. Corzine has proposed the state should be generating 1,000 megawatts worth of electricity from wind power as part of the state’s draft Energy Master Plan.
As more and more offshore wind projects receive approval around the world, the demand for wind turbine . . .
BPU OKs application process for offshore wind-farm rebates
The Board of Public Utilities approved the application process Friday for a $12 million offshore wind-farm rebate program. Approval for the program itself will not be decided until December as part of 2009’s clean energy program budget.
Under the rebate program, $4 million per meteorological station would be awarded, provided the weather station is up and running in 2009, and it’s for a wind farm that generates at least 200 megawatts worth of energy. Garden State Offshore Energy’s proposed wind . . .
Pepco gets approval for transmission incentives
Pepco Holdings Inc on Monday got approval for a series of rate incentives and a higher rate of return for its proposed 230-mile Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway (MAPP) transmission project from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), government officials said.
“FERC authorized for the project a 1.5 percent return on equity (ROE) adder to the company’s existing 11.3 percent ROE,” FERC said in a press statement. “That will result in an overall ROE of 12.8 percent. FERC also authorized full . . .
Proposed windmill area teeming with birds
TRENTON — Ongoing studies of birds, marine mammals and sea turtles off the Jersey Shore have found an abundance of life in an area where hundreds of wind turbines could be spinning by 2020, participants in a public meeting said today.
The studies, which will cost $4.9 million and are overseen by the state Department of Environmental Protection, are being done in waters up to 23 miles offshore from Seaside Park to Stone Harbor, according to officials.
A final report . . .
The State We're In: Promote wind and solar power in the right places
There’s something reassuring about the farms we’ve worked so hard to preserve here in the nation’s most densely populated state. Not only are the Garden State’s farms beautiful to look at, but they produce fresh food and help fight global warming.
As food prices rise and concerns about climate change deepen, preserved farmland becomes increasingly precious. Agricultural soils “sequester” carbon as they produce crops that feed the state. In turn, locally grown foods cost less–and leave a smaller carbon footprint–than . . .
Barnegat eyes wind turbines
BARNEGAT — Winds of change are making their way into the township.
After hearing from members of the Climate Action Advisory Group, Ocean Gate Mayor Paul J. Kennedy and James H. Fry, a retired Navy engineer and wind advocate, the Township Committee voted unanimously Monday night to seek the Planning Board’s assistance in drafting an ordinance to regulate wind turbines.
The Climate Action Committee enlisted the help of Rowan University in Glassboro — as did Ocean Gate — to erect . . .
State speeds up its wind-power plans
Three days after the state approved its first offshore wind farm, the Corzine administration yesterday stepped up its efforts to ensure wind turbines supply a bigger portion of New Jersey’s electricity.
Corzine, speaking at a news conference in Atlantic City, said wind farms should supply 1,000 megawatts of electricity — or enough to power about 375,000 homes — by 2012, eight years sooner than the state’s draft energy master plan currently mandates. The governor also wants to increase the projected . . .
New Jersey grants Garden State Offshore Energy to build wind farm off Avalon
Windmills could start sprouting off New Jersey’s coast as soon as 2010 after the state Board of Public Utilities signed off on a proposal at its meeting Friday morning.
The board unanimously approved granting $4 million to Garden State Offshore Energy over four competitors to build a wind farm, while strongly hinting this would be just the beginning of the state’s foray into wind power.
“This project is one that will keep New Jersey on the cutting edge of renewable . . .
BPU picks offshore wind farm builder
The new Jersey Board of Public Utilities today chose the firm Garden State Offshore Energy to build New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm.
The five members of the BPU voted unanimously to accept an evaluation committee’s recommendation to award a $4 million wind energy grant to the firm, a joint venture between PSEG Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group of Newark, and Deepwater Wind of Hoboken.
“People in New Jersey are ready for this, they support it . . .
