KZG’s Trish Zita Attends Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for Ørsted’s New Jersey Headquarters
KZG’s Trish Zita was pleased to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Ørsted’s New Jersey headquarters in Atlantic City. Ørsted, a KZG client, and the global leader in offshore wind, has been working with federal and state officials to develop an offshore wind project off the coast of Southern New Jersey, and this office will serve as their base to bring ocean wind energy to the Garden State.
Attending the opening of the company’s new office, Ørsted North America President Thomas Brostrøm announced important progress on Ørsted’s offshore wind project in New Jersey. The company received its first federal permit after gaining approval from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for its site assessment plan. The permit allows Ørsted to deploy equipment offshore to measure wind speeds and wave height to help with final siting of windmills. Brostrøm also spoke about how Ørsted’s new facility will benefit the state, “The state of New Jersey and Atlantic City in particular, will have bragging rights to say it’s one of a handful of American cities to have an offshore wind farm. Ocean wind will produce reliable clean energy for New Jersey with scale that maximizes job creation, cost effectiveness and economic benefits for the state and local communities. We look forward to continued collaboration with the BOEM as we work to make New Jersey and the U.S. a hub for offshore wind.”
Also in attendance for the ceremony was a number of public officials, including First Lady of New Jersey Tammy Murphy, Board of Public Utilities President Joseph Fiordaliso, Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam (D), and Assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo (D-2). First Lady Murphy, who played an integral role in developing the Governor’s Executive Order calling for the state to move toward a goal of 3,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy generation by the year 2030, spoke about Ørsted’s impact on helping to combat climate change, “Offshore wind can power a state’s future path and drive its economic future. I am thrilled to see the state of New Jersey headed for a cleaner and greener direction. It’s a pleasure to partake in this historic moment, as we welcome and open Ørsted’s official New Jersey office.”
Ørsted, which acquired the federal rights to wind energy development on a 160,048 acre area of the Atlantic Ocean off South Jersey in 2015, is hopeful of having its offshore wind project operational in NJ by the early 2020s. Ørsted’s “Ocean Wind” project will install wind turbines 10 miles off the coast of Atlantic City with a capacity to reach over 1,000 megawatts, enough power to serve over a half million homes and businesses in the state. The project could also create over 1,000 jobs a year over a two to three year construction phase, as well as over 100 permanent jobs.
