According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), pre-construction sampling work for the Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind facility cabling has been underway at Island Beach State Park (IBSP) since at least September 19, with more advanced construction work expected to begin in October.
Ocean Wind 1 is an offshore industrial wind site planned for construction approximately 15 miles off Cape May County in Ocean City by Ørsted A/S (formerly DONG Energy), a Danish multinational energy company. According to Ørsted’s website, construction gets under this fall with the project scheduled for operations in 2025 to deploy 98 GE Haliade-X turbines with a 12-megawatt production capacity.
Power from these turbines will ultimately be delivered to shore via high-powered cables running through the town of Ocean City to connect to the former B.L. England Generating Station at Beesley’s Point in Cape May County, as well as through IBSP under the Barnegat Bay estuary to connect to the old Oyster Creek Generating Station in Ocean County.
“Ørsted has notified the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that it plans to start upland preparation work at Island Beach State Park in October, and the State Park Service anticipates that any impacts to the public will be minimal,” said NJDEP senior press officer Caryn Shinske.
Ms. Shinske was originally reached for comment on September 11 about the ongoing sewer work at IBSP and rumors about Ørsted personnel onsite for the project. Ms. Shinske provided an actual quote on September 19, effectively corroborating the rumors that Ørsted had indeed begun its work at IBSP.
“While actual construction work will not commence until mid-October, some additional samplings, or borings, will be taken between now and the start of construction,” Ms. Shinske said in her email, adding that NJDEP expects to have an updated construction schedule for the entire Ocean Wind 1 project by September 30.
The actual “samplings, or borings” work at IBSP now underway by Ørsted and its contractors has taken many folks by surprise, including local elected officials. Borough of Seaside Park Mayor John A. Peterson, Jr. told The Fisherman Magazine that he’s been hearing from his constituents about the ongoing work nearby at the park, but as mayor he not been provided much information about the ongoing work by the state.
“We’ve asked a number a number of questions and in our mind we have not had anywhere near adequate answers,” Mayor Peterson said in an interview airing on The Fisherman’s weekly video fishing forecast on September 21. The mayor said that while NJDEP has less than forthcoming with details about the ongoing work, in discussions with some workers onsite he was able to establish that Ørsted work was already under way in September, with more to come in October.
“They’ve indicated that they’re employed by that entity (Ørsted) and they’re going to start a construction project very soon, probably as soon as October, and they’ve indicated that they’re going to move heavy equipment and large trucks right through our municipality,” Peterson said.
Ms. Shinske did not elaborate on what those “minimal” impacts to public access at IBSP would look like in the coming months as Ørsted’s construction efforts there are expected to continue through the end of the year.
