Orsted to take full ownership of New Jersey offshore wind farm

ORSTED OFFSHORE NORTH AMERICA is taking full ownership of the Ocean Wind project planned off the coast of New Jersey. Orsted also owns and operates the Block Island Wind Farm, pictured here. / (AP Photo/David Goldman

PROVIDENCE – Offshore wind developer Orsted Offshore North America is set to become the full owner of an offshore wind farm planned off the coast of southern New Jersey.

Orsted on Wednesday announced it has signed an agreement to buy out New Jersey electric services company Public Service Enterprise Group’s private equity stake in the Ocean Wind I project. The acquisition of PSEG’s 25% stake will give Orsted full ownership of the project, which is still in planning an development. The Danish wind giant also owns and operates the Block Island Wind Farm and is solely or jointly developing several other wind farms up and down the East Coast, including the Revolution Wind Farm planned off the coast of Block Island.

Lathrop Craig, PSEG’s senior vice president and chief commercial officer, said in a statement that Orsted was the “better positioned tax investor” to take full oversight and ownership of the project,

“While this was a difficult decision, it was driven by the best interests of the project and New Jersey’s offshore wind goals,” Craig said in a statement. 

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Orsted has already committed $695 million in in-state spending on the project with the promise of creating “hundreds” of jobs, the release stated. Orsted also invested more than $100 million to build a monopile facility for wind turbine foundations at the Port of Paulsboro in New Jersey, in addition to other port investments. 

David Hardy, CEO of Orsted Offshore North America, pledged to “drive the project forward with commercial operations beginning as planned.”

The deal between Orsted and PSEG is set to close in the first half of the year, with the 98-turbine, 1,110-megawatt project slated to begin delivering power by the end of 2024, the release stated.

PSEG will continue to support onshore infrastructure construction, the release stated.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.

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