Onshore Construction Begins At Island Beach State Park For Wind Farm

ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK, NJ — The cables that will connect New Jersey's first offshore wind farm to the power grid on land are under construction as of Oct. 10 in Island Beach State Park.

Cables for the Ocean Wind 1 project will connect to what is called the Lanoka substation, which will be located at the former Oyster Creek nuclear plant in Lacey. Read more: Wind Farm Substation Work Begins In Lacey: What To Expect

The route for the cable will run from the substation along Discharge Drive, then under Oyster Creek and Route 9 onto private land, according to the project's developer Orsted in a public meeting Oct. 4. It will then continue along private land to Barnegat Bay, then run across Island Beach State Park via an underground duct bank.

Cables will be installed at a parking lot and will be underground throughout the park.

Construction will be completed using horizontal directional drilling, or HDD, which is a method that allows construction to proceed with no planned disruption to traffic flow. This will be done in the fourth quarter of 2023, with "limited activity" in January 2024.

"There should be very limited impact to the public," Orsted workers said.

Shore Road next to Island Beach State Park will remain open throughout construction, though limited to one lane by a construction zone at one point. There will still be access to fishing.

The work done this month will primarily consist of installing temporary fencing for site security and the installation of erosion and sediment control measures. There will also be mobilization and assembly of equipment needed for the upcoming construction activities.

Offshore work is set to begin between April and June 2024 as Orsted is still awaiting certain federal permits.

You can watch the entire public meeting here.