Sweeney Center: NJ remains in forefront of states on offshore wind, but future of key EEW AOS monopile plant at risk in tax credit dispute

New Jersey remains in the forefront of U.S. offshore wind development with ambitious energy production goals and major investments in supply chain and port infrastructure, but the future of its first-in-the nation monopile manufacturing facility is clouded, according to “Benchmarking New Jersey on Offshore Wind,” a study released June 5 by the Sweeney Center for Public Policy at Rowan University.

“Today’s report takes a hard look at where New Jersey stacks up on offshore wind,” said Steve Sweeney, the former N.J. Senate president who chairs the policy center’s advisory board. “We have moved aggressively as a state over the past five years to put ourselves in position to be the national leader in both offshore wind development and job creation.

“Competition between states and companies is increasingly intense. With New York allowing Orsted to use federal offshore wind tax credits, we need to do the same to make sure that the EEW AOS monopile manufacturing facility in Paulsboro is able to expand, increase union jobs and supply our offshore wind farms with American-made components,” Sweeney said.

Tim Sullivan, CEO of the state Economic Development Authority, warned the Assembly Budget Committee last month that New Jersey is in danger of losing its “first mover advantage” and being left behind in the competition for offshore wind jobs and economic growth.

“‘Benchmarking New Jersey on Offshore Wind’ puts New Jersey’s offshore wind development efforts in national context,” said Sweeney Center Director Mark Magyar, the report’s author. “While Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind 1 is under construction and will be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the nation, New Jersey has been the leader in supply chain, manufacturing and port infrastructure investment.

“The EDA’s $637.7 million New Jersey Wind Port is the nation’s largest port facility investment. Governor Murphy set the most ambitious offshore wind target in the nation and his administration has been particularly aggressive in requiring companies to invest in New Jersey projects as a condition of power purchase agreements,” Magyar said. “What is at risk is the future of the EEW AOS monopile plant, which was the first major private sector investment in creating a U.S.-based manufacturing industry to supply the offshore wind industry.”

The Sweeney Center hosted a major conference on “Offshore Wind Technology in New Jersey: Sustainability, Emerging Markets and Policy” at Rowan University on May 3. Speakers included Sullivan, Sweeney, state Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, Labor Commissioner Rob Asaro-Angelo, Congressman Donald Norcross, Rowan University President Ali Houshmand, Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Dean Giuseppe Palmese, Rowan College of South Jersey President Frederick Keating, and executives from JCP&L, PSEG, Orsted, Atlantic Shores and Invenergy.

The “Benchmarking New Jersey on Offshore Wind” study and reports on the conference proceedings can be found on the center’s website.

Established in 2022, the Sweeney Center for Public Policy is part of Rowan University’s College of Humanities & Social Sciences.