Offshore Wind

The New Jersey Chapter has long-supported and continues to support the socially and environmentally responsible build-out of offshore wind in New Jersey. It is our mission to advocate for clean energy sources that can ensure a shift away from fossil fuel generation in our grid. Offshore wind has the potential to deliver clean, large-scale electricity generation to New Jersey, and our geographic location is uniquely suited to take full advantage of it.

We have worked alongside local, regional, and national environmental, community-based, justice, and labor groups to ensure that offshore wind was being developed as responsibly and equitably as possible. When the time is right, we will work hard to ensure the same for future projects. (Photograph by Gary Norton)

Offshore wind is one of New Jersey’s greatest solutions for meeting our clean energy and climate goals, cutting down emissions and cleaning our air, and boosting our economy and creating good green jobs.

Environmental Benefits

Studies have shown that marine life can benefit from offshore wind facilities when they are responsibly sited. Turbines can serve as artificial reefs for marine life, which in turn attract other marine species. The resulting abundance of fish can be extremely beneficial for larger marine life like whales, dolphins and sharks, as well as for the fishing industry. Check out this video by the National Wildlife Federation and Anglers for Offshore Wind to see the benefits of offshore wind to recreational fishing. 

New Jersey’s offshore wind project’s development plans incorporated safety measures and construction restrictions that benefited marine life and went beyond what was already required by law. For example, wind turbines can be sited 12-15 miles offshore or more to help avoid impacts to migrating bird species (beyond the Atlantic Flyway), and many offshore wind projects require Protected Species Observers present on all construction ships and vessels to spot marine life and pause construction while they pass. 

Climate Benefits

Offshore wind helps combat climate change by generating electricity without burning polluting fossil fuels, like coal, oil, and gas. Instead, wind turbines harness the wind itself which is a renewable, abundant, and clean energy source.This reduces greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, that contribute to global warming. 

Improved Air Quality and Public Health

Harnessing offshore wind will transition New Jersey away from relying on fossil fuels that expose New Jersey residents to toxic air pollutants and contribute to health conditions like asthma, cancer, heart disease, and other conditions that threaten lives and cost billions of dollars in healthcare costs. 

Reducing these pollutants can lead to fewer asthma attacks, hospital visits, missed school and work days, and premature deaths, particularly in environmental justice communities located near power plants and other sources of fossil fuel pollution.

Generating power from offshore wind offers an opportunity for NJ to be a leader in tackling the climate crisis while creating thousands of safe, high paying jobs across the State, especially in areas along our shore that have seasonal economies. Offshore wind jobs can often offer high salaries, training and good benefits. Wind generation also means future job generation, with the continual need for maintenance, onshore facilities, and enhancements to the energy grid and infrastructure even after construction of the wind farms is completed. 

Not only would offshore wind provide thousands of family-sustaining jobs, but also provide a life line for the manufacturing and a supply-chain economy in the state. In fall 2021, ground broke on the $250 million, 200-acre New Jersey Wind Port in Salem County, which is projected to create 1,500 permanent jobs and generate $500 million annually in economic activity. That’s in addition to the planned offshore wind manufacturing operation at Paulsboro in Gloucester County.

Offshore wind farms may also boost tourism, which would further benefit local NJ economies. 

In 2022, Governor Murphy announced in Executive Order #307 that New Jersey will commit to increase offshore wind generation by nearly 50 percent to 11,000 megawatts (MW) by 2040.

Before President Trump’s executive order halting the offshore wind development in early 2024, New Jersey was poised to host 3 projects - Atlantic Shores North and South (Joint Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF Renewables), Leading Light Wind (Invenergy and energyRE joint venture), and Attentive Energy Two LLC (TotalEnergies, Rise Light, Power and Corio).

After the order, New Jersey halted awarding new offshore wind contracts due to a risky economic landscape and projects have been paused. Atlantic Shores is the only project that had all federal approvals, but in February 2024 Shell officially pulled out and the BPU did not grant them a chance to refinance to account for inflation and supply chain issues. Without their fourth solicitation award, the future for Atlantic Shores is unclear. 

In May 2025, New Jersey joined a coalition of states to sue the Trump Administration to ensure projects continue. 

In March of 2026, the Trump Administration spent $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to cancel TotalEnergies offshore wind projects in North Carolina and the NY/NJ bight, halting the Attentive Energy Two project (TotalEnergies, Rise Light, Power and Corio) that could have powered 650,000 homes in New Jersey.

Later in June, New Jersey joined a coalition of states suing the Trump Administration over this illegal deal.

We have seen progress in the courts to defend offshore wind, and it remains one of New Jersey’s greatest solutions to expand in-state clean energy generation and bring down energy costs. 

The NJ Sierra Club will continue to advocate for its equitable and responsible development, and work to lay the groundwork in the meantime for the future of offshore wind.

You can click here to see an extensive timeline of offshore wind development in New Jersey and how the Sierra Club has engaged.

To join us or find out more about the work of the Offshore Wind Committee, contact our committee co-chairs, Denise Brush and Howard Stein, offshorewind@newjersey.sierraclub.org.

Offshore Wind Information Hub, NJ Gov 

NJDEP| Offshore Wind | Research and Monitoring Initiative (RMI) 

Webinar, Offshore Wind Transmission and the Grid with NJ Wind Works Coalition, Spring 2025

Big Wins for Offshore Wind | Sierra Club, Spring 2026

Global Wind Day 2024, New Jersey Sierra Club

2019 Block Island Wind Farm Fishing Tour

Coast to Coast: The Need for Responsible Offshore Wind Energy