The State of New Jersey has opened the bidding on a 1,100 megawatt offshore wind project, the largest of any state in the nation. The project is the first step in meeting New Jersey’s goal to deploy 3,500 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030. New Jersey has more than a hundred oceanfront miles.

“Bidders will be required under the statute to pay a $150,000 application fee,” said Ken Sheehan, director of the Clean Energy Division at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “There are six primary criteria — they are the OREC purchase price, the economic impacts for the state, ratepayer impacts, environmental impacts, the strength of the guarantees of economic impacts and the likelihood of successful commercial completion. The purpose of this is not wind at any cost, it is to do this well, to do this smart.”

Governor Phil Murphy said in a statement, “In the span of nine months, New Jersey has vaulted to the front of the pack in establishing this cutting-edge industry. We campaigned on rebuilding New Jersey’s reputation as a clean energy leader and that involves setting an aggressive timetable on offshore wind.”