In this week’s news roundup, we discuss an exciting investment in renewable energy for our home state of Massachusetts, and progress towards achieving net zero emissions in New Jersey.
800 megawatt wind farm approved for Massachusetts
Following years of delays, the Biden administration recently approved the nation’s first utility-scale wind farm in federal waters. The farm will be located 12 nautical miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Once up and running, the turbines are expected to produce enough electricity to power roughly 400,000 homes.
Following the announcement, Governor Charlie Baker stated, “Massachusetts should be proud that this decision launches the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project on the Commonwealth’s shores. This groundbreaking project will produce affordable, renewable energy, create jobs and prove Massachusetts developed a successful model for developing offshore wind energy. We appreciate the federal government’s partnership to grant this approval and look forward to working with Vineyard Wind to create thousands of jobs and set the Commonwealth on a path to achieve Net Zero emissions.”
New Jersey renewable energy bill passes committee
After several iterations, several solar-friendly bills were released from New Jersey Senate’s Environment and Energy Committee for consideration by the larger legislative body. The bills would establish a successor program to New Jersey’s solar renewable energy certificate (SREC) incentive, and also create additional incentives for large-scale solar projects through a competitive solicitation process. Additional stipulations include a mandate that all newly constructed warehouses be solar-ready buildings in order to drive installations there versus other locations. The bills would also establish stated renewable energy goals into state law.
Commenting on the pieces of legislation, Senator Smith, Chair of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, stated, “In order to achieve our renewable energy goals and become a carbon-neutral state in the coming decades, we need to greatly expand our use of clean energy across New Jersey. We cannot achieve this if we do not rapidly develop our capacity for solar energy.”
