The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJ BPU) has requested to end the State Agreement Approach (SAA) it established with PJM Interconnection (PJM) in 2021. This initiative aimed to develop offshore wind transmission projects efficiently, minimizing impact on communities and nature while providing certainty for offshore wind developers.
New Jersey and PJM have initiated two solicitations for offshore wind grid connections. The first, completed in 2022, connected 7.5 GW of offshore wind energy. A second solicitation in 2024 evaluated the need for a new SAA transmission solicitation to connect an additional 3.5 GW, as the state’s wind energy target was increased from 7.5 GW by 2035 to 11 GW by 2040.
In 2022, the NJ BPU selected a project that included pre-built infrastructure for multiple offshore wind transmission lines and onshore infrastructure to deliver wind energy to consumers. This project involves constructing new offshore transmission infrastructure by Mid-Atlantic Offshore Development, a joint venture between Shell and EDF Renewables, with Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) integrating the electricity into the grid.
New Jersey was the first US state to align its offshore wind transmission goals with its regional grid operator’s planning process through the SAA, representing a first-of-its-kind coordinated transmission solution for offshore wind-generated energy.
Several offshore wind farm projects in New Jersey received federal approval and were selected in the state’s procurement process. However, projects have been paused or canceled due to market deterioration in the US, influenced by the pandemic, global economic conditions, and changes in government administration.
Projects by Ørsted, including Ocean Wind 1 and 2, were canceled in late 2023 due to high inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain issues. The future of Atlantic Shores, Attentive Energy Two, and Leading Light Wind projects, totaling 5.2 GW, is also uncertain.
In 2025, developers of Atlantic Shores and Leading Light Wind announced they would drop these projects. Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a venture between EDF Renewables and Shell, terminated its OREC contract in August 2025, citing federal uncertainty and pausing construction and transmission upgrades.
In November, Invenergy and energyRE informed the NJ BPU they would not continue with the 2.4 GW Leading Light project, citing supply chain, equipment, vendor challenges, and regulatory changes.
By March’s end, TotalEnergies, the developer of New Jersey’s Attentive Energy Two project, reached an agreement with the US government to recover offshore wind lease fees for canceling its projects.
“Given the Trump Administration’s aggressive and illegal actions to stop offshore wind projects in our region–including the recent agreement it reached with the firm Total Energies to use taxpayer dollars to buy back an offshore wind lease–the Sherrill Administration had little choice but to cancel the agreement, given that there were no viable offshore wind projects to plug in and use the infrastructure,” the Regional Plan Association stated.
Original Story at www.offshorewind.biz