The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has issued the draft solicitation guidance document (SGD) for New Jersey’s third offshore wind solicitation.
The release of the draft SGD will provide for stakeholder engagement on the design of the state’s solicitation and provides information necessary to enable potential bidders to assess the rules and requirements of the forthcoming solicitation.
There are several new requirements proposed in this third solicitation, notably: setting the solicitation target range from 1,200 MW to 4,000 MW; offering an inflation adjustment mechanism; providing specific direction on New Jersey’s requirements for new or expanded supply chain facilities; providing minimum standards for the environmental and fisheries protection plans; setting the evaluation criteria weighting to 70 percent price and 30 percent non-price factors; and incorporating necessary information resulting from the board’s historic state agreement approach transmission decision in October.
The draft SGD also includes an updated offshore wind solicitation schedule. The new schedule reflects the state’s expanded goal of 11 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040, set by Gov. Phil Murphy earlier this year. The new solicitation schedule provides developers and the offshore wind supply chain with certainty on the state’s plan to reach its offshore wind goal and will spur increased investment in New Jersey’s offshore wind industry.
The state’s comprehensive approach to offshore wind development aims to secure the best overall value for ratepayers while growing economic opportunity and protecting the environment and commercial and recreational fishing interests. The third solicitation will continue New Jersey’s thoughtful and intentional approach to developing offshore wind while establishing the state as the offshore wind supply chain hub.
A virtual public stakeholder meeting is scheduled for December 13 to review the solicitation requirements and receive public comment. Instructions for how to participate are available here. Written comments will be accepted until December 29.
Photo by Calvin Kinateder on Unsplash
