FirstEnergy selected to connect offshore wind power to New Jersey grid

PARETO

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities confirmed Tuesday it awarded a contract to FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) subsidiary Jersey Central Power & Light to connect clean energy generated by the state's offshore wind farms to the power grid.

The Board of Public Utilities said $723M in investments awarded to JCP&L to build new and upgrade existing transmission infrastructure represents ~70% of the nearly $1.1B project, with the cost of the project expected to be shared by all New Jersey electric customers.

Now that the project has been awarded, FirstEnergy (FE) will have the option to acquire up to a 20% equity stake in Mid-Atlantic Offshore Development, a new company owned by Shell New Energies US (SHEL) and EDF Renewables (OTCPK:ECIFF), with the board's approval.

New Jersey is aiming for 11 GW of offshore wind turbines by 2040, which would power millions of homes.

Bloomberg reported last week that New Jersey had approved $1.1B in proposed projects to bring power ashore from wind farms planned in the Atlantic Ocean.