Offshore Wind Farm Files To Cancel Project Off South Jersey Shore

NEW JERSEY — An offshore wind company plans to cancel its planned farm off the southern Jersey Shore due to political and economic factors.

Atlantic Shores filed a petition with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) on June 4 seeking to cancel its Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) order as the proposed wind farm is "no longer viable," according to the filing.

Despite efforts to keep the Atlantic Shores project going, developers were met with economic pressures including inflation and supply chain issues along with political pressure from the Trump Administration. President Donald Trump publicly said he hoped Atlantic Shores would fail following his executive order on offshore wind. Shortly after, Shell withdrew a nearly $1 billion investment into the project, as Patch previously reported. Read more: Shell Withdraws From Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project: Report

The project was dealt yet another blow in February when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yanked a previously approved air permit, which left Atlantic Shores unable to continue construction, according to the filing.

"Due to the uncertainty caused by the Presidential Wind Memorandum, the subsequent loss of the Air Permit, and other actions taken by the current administration more generally, Petitioner’s parent company has been forced to materially reduce its personnel, terminate contracts, and cancel planned project investments," the filing reads.

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind CEO Joris Veldhoven said that this was a "reset period."

"This filing marks the closing of a chapter, but not the end for Atlantic Shores," Veldhoven said in a statement. "Offshore wind continues to offer New Jersey a strong value proposition that includes thousands of good paying jobs, stable power prices, and real economic benefits."

Atlantic Shores was set to be New Jersey's first offshore wind farm. Originally, that title belonged to Ocean Wind 1 and 2. Those plans were scrapped when developer Orsted suddenly pulled out from the project in late 2023, citing supply chain issues.

The farm would have placed 197 wind turbines as close as 8.7 miles off the coast between Atlantic City and Long Beach Island. It would have powered about 700,000 homes.

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