Wind Farm Developer Remains Committed to Project Off LBI / The Sandpaper / February 6, 2025
By Gina Scala
Nearly 15 months after a Danish-based wind energy company pulled the plug on what was to be New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm, London-based Shell PLC withdrew from projects to be built off the coast of Long Beach Island, writing off $1 billion in losses. Still, that doesn’t mean Atlantic Shores is going away anytime soon.
“Atlantic Shores is committed to New Jersey and delivering the Garden State’s first offshore wind farm,” the company said in a statement Jan. 30.
That same day, Shell’s Chief Financial Officer Sinead Gorman said her company no longer views the projects as fitting into “our capabilities nor returns that we would like.”
“While we can’t comment on the views of shareholders, Atlantic Shores intends to continue progressing New Jersey’s first offshore wind project and our portfolio in compliance with our obligations to local, state and federal partners under existing leases and relevant permits,” Atlantic Shores officials said. “Business plans, projects, portfolio projections and scopes evolve over time – and as expected for large, capital-intensive infrastructure projects like ours, our shareholders have always prepared long-term strategies that contemplate multiple scenarios that enable Atlantic Shores to reach its full potential.”
Until last month, Atlantic Shores was a 50-50 partnership between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF Renewables North America. It was formed in December 2018 to co-develop nearly 183,353 acres of leased sea area on the Outer Continental Shelf, located within the New Jersey Wind Energy Area.
“We commend Atlantic Shores for reaffirming its commitment to delivering family-sustaining jobs and clean, renewable energy for New Jersey residents through offshore wind,” said Ed Potosnak, executive director of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. “Responsibly developed wind power is critical to addressing our state’s energy needs and lowering costs for working families and local businesses while ensuring our residents can breathe cleaner air. Now more than ever, we need to make New Jersey a leader in clean energy – and that means getting offshore wind developments up and running so they can deliver clean, affordable power to consumers.”
The Atlantic Shores project calls for 200 turbines in a lease zone that covers about 102,124 acres and is approximately 8.7 miles off LBI at its closest point. Projects 1 and 2 include roughly 10 offshore wind substations with subsea transmission cables that could make landfall in Atlantic City to the south and Sea Girt in the north.
Atlantic Shores received approval for its construction and operations plan from the federal government in the fall, and construction is anticipated to begin sometime this year onshore.
“We are not against renewable energy, but these offshore projects were developed with no input from local communities. It was irresponsible from the start,” Long Beach Township Mayor Joe Mancini said. “Residents of coastal communities throughout New Jersey have said they received no meaningful engagement from the federal government or the developers on these projects.”
He said Atlantic Shores “would have been the largest and most visible offshore wind project in the United States, creating a major disturbance to the scenic coastal vistas that bring millions of annual visitors to Long Beach Township. The project would have increased utility costs, impacted tourism and recreation, and harmed our fishing community.”
Shell’s decision to withdraw from the Atlantic Shores project comes 1 year, 2 months and 30 days after Ørsted cut the cord on two projects off the Jersey coast. At the time, Ørsted officials cited the then-current “market situation with supply chain challenges, project delays and rising interest rates” as reasons for the company’s abandonment of the Ocean Wind 1 project.
“They are beginning to realize what we have been saying all along: These projects are not a practical or viable solution for our energy needs,” Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.-2nd) said last week. “The promises made by the offshore wind industry were always too good to be true, and even the New Jersey Ratepayer Advocate has acknowledged that these projects would have driven our energy rates even higher than they already are. While this is a big win for New Jersey’s coastline and our local economy, this fight is not over.”
Although he worked with Trump on the Jan. 20 executive order that withdrew offshore wind leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf and implemented a review of the federal government’s leasing and permitting practices for wind energy, the congressman said he would continue to fight against wind energy projects off the Jersey Shore until they are done for good.
Congressman Chris Smith, who has been a part of Van Drew’s congressional inquiry into the industrialization of the ocean from offshore wind, said Shell, like Ørsted, realized it would lose money on the projects despite taxpayer subsidies.
“This is now another domino to fall, exposing the gross negligence throughout the offshore wind approval process which has failed to address the economic unsustainability, environmental degradation, and national security risks presented by the reckless offshore wind buildout,” he said.
Jody Stewart, director of organizing for the New Jersey Resource Project, disagrees.
“As New Jersey storm survivors, we’ve experienced extreme weather and flooding firsthand, so we want to make sure offshore wind benefits our communities directly and helps us preserve our home for years to come,” she said. “We’re excited to make our voices heard in the process of bringing construction hubs, turbine installation, and transmission lines to our state, because as we like to say, nothing about us without us.”