The New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s Board (NJEDA) has approved the purchase of a 109.4-acre property in Lower Alloways Creek, Salem County, which will enable the planned expansion of the NJ Wind Port.

Phase 1 of the Wind Port broke ground in September 2021 with marshalling activities due to commence in early 2024. The purchase of the 109.4-acre property from NDEV LLC, a subsidiary of PSEG Power, will enable Phase 2 of the project as proposed, expanding the Port’s total footprint to over 220 acres and enabling it to support marshalling of two wind projects concurrently as well as up to three co-located manufacturing facilities.

The New Jersey Wind Port is a first-in-the-nation infrastructure investment that will provide a location for essential staging, assembly, and manufacturing activities related to offshore wind projects on the East Coast. At full build-out, the Wind Port has the potential to create up to 1,500 manufacturing, assembly, and operations jobs and drive billions of dollars in economic growth back into the New Jersey economy.

“Today’s approval is another major step forward for the New Jersey Wind Port and for delivering on Governor Murphy’s goal of making New Jersey the engine room of the U.S offshore wind supply chain,” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan. “The ability to marshal two projects at once, with additional space for component manufacturing, will turbocharge job creation, opportunities for small businesses, and all forms of ancillary economic activity both locally and across the state.”

Sullivan added that expanded marshalling capacity will also help to alleviate the current shortfall in fit-for-purpose port capacity across the region, helping states up and down the U.S East Coast to deliver on their wind targets on time and cost-effectively.

The 109.4-acre property is set directly north of property the NJEDA is leasing from PSEG Nuclear to develop Phase 1 of the NJ Wind Port. It is currently permitted as a confined disposal facility (CDF), with the permitting process to enable the Port’s expansion due to commence shortly. The purchase from NDEV LLC was for a negotiated price of $24.25 million.

The state is also committed to setting a new standard for inclusion of women- and minority-owned businesses during construction of the New Jersey Wind Port. The NJEDA has established a requirement that at least 25% of subcontractors for the port construction are small businesses and at least 15% are women-, minority-, or veteran- owned. The project also includes worker diversity goals of 18% people of color and 6.9% women.

NJEDA expects to commence tenant selection for parcels of the property in the coming months.

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