This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

January 23, 2013

New Jersey Selected for First Phase of Offshore Wind Transmission Project

The Atlantic Wind Connection on January 15 announced that New Jersey has been selected as the first phase of its multi-year offshore wind transmission project. This phase of the project is called the New Jersey Energy Link; selection was based on New Jersey’s commitment to developing an offshore wind industry and the large potential for clean renewable power that exists off its shoreline.

The NJ Energy Link will be an offshore electrical transmission cable, buried under the ocean, linking energy resources and users in northern, central, and southern New Jersey. The cable will span the length of New Jersey, carry 3,000 megawatts of electricity, and is expected to help reduce the cost of offshore wind energy. The NJ Energy Link will be built in three phases, and is expected to begin construction in 2016, with the first phase to be in service in 2019. See the Atlantic Wind press release.