New Jersey undertook a blue ribbon panel process from 2004 to May 2006 to examine the issues surrounding the wind farms off the coast of New Jersey. The panel proposed a limited test pilot program of not more than 350 megawatts of energy. The State then went forward and put out to bid a request for proposals for the test program. Five entities have bid on that request. Simultaneousto that bidding process, DEP has set up a baseline study of the habitat in the possible pilot areas from the coast outwards for 20 nautical miles.
The pilot wind farm is anywhere from 3 miles off the coast to 16 or more miles of the coast of New Jersey. Anything outside of three miles becomes the jurisdiction of the federal government. Right now there are no rules setting for the standards and procedures for obtaining the leases and permits necessary for an off-shore wind facility. Over two years after the proposed regulations were due under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, MMS has proposed the regulations. Carolyn Elefant wrote about the 462 page proposal on her blog: RenewablesOffshore (here) and gave a brief overview of the proposal. These rules will be vital to the ability of any of the five bidders to actually implement the pilot program. Also, as the State’s energy master plan’s goal of 1000 mw of off-shore wind generation.
I hope to give them a read myself and hopefully will provide more details in a later post.