New Jersey cancels fourth offshore wind solicitation after bidders drop out

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has pulled the plug on the state’s fourth offshore wind solicitation due to the withdrawal of prospective bidders and Shell freezing its involvement with the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project.

There were three initial bidders in the fourth solicitation with two withdrawing and only Atlantic Shores submitted a best and final offer.

“A number of reasons led to this decision, notably Shell backing out as an equity partner in the Atlantic Shores project and backing away from the American clean energy market, as well as uncertainty driven by federal actions and permitting. The Board concluded that an award in New Jersey’s fourth offshore wind solicitation, despite the manifold benefits the industry offers to the state, would not be a responsible decision at this time,” said Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of NJBPU.

The Board was initially supposed to announce its latest round of offshore wind power agreements in December but decided to wait for what would happen when president Donald Trump took over the White House.

One of his first moves on his first day as president was to sign an executive order stopping new offshore wind leases on the country’s outer continental shelf.

Through the order, the Interior Department was instructed to lead a review of the environmental impacts of offshore wind leasing in collaboration with the Energy, Agriculture, and Commerce departments. It also directs the review to analyze offshore wind’s effects on bird and marine mammal life.

However, these areas could still be considered for oil, gas or mineral extraction as well as environmental conservation.

American Clean Power Association CEO, Jason Grumet, said that the decision to cancel this offshore wind procurement is a direct consequence of the uncertainty created by the recently issued executive order.

“Each offshore wind project represents a multibillion-dollar investment in American infrastructure. While the merits of each project must be evaluated based on the economic and energy needs of state and local interests, US offshore wind represents the critical investment necessary to maintain our nation’s competitive energy advantage,” he said.

New Jersey approved three offshore wind developments which were supposed to be part of the solicitation round – Atlantic Shores southern project, Attentive Energy Two, and Leading Light Wind. There used to be four projects but Ørsted cancelled its Ocean Wind project in 2023.

But, considering these recent developments and the order signed by Trump, the consortium of TotalEnergies, Corio Generation, and Rise Light & Power pulled its Attentive Energy Two project from the bidding process, just as Invenergy and energyRe did for Leading Light.

Atlantic Shores has a different situation where Shell abandoned its involvement in the project and took a nearly $1b write-down on the project. Also, a proposal for a second Atlantic Shores project was declined by the Board. Despite all this, the other partner in the project, EDF, said it would be pushing forward with the already permitted project.