Con Edison’s Clean Link New Jersey Plans to Connect the Garden State With Offshore Wind and Its Clean Energy Future
Con Edison Transmission, Inc. is proposing to build Clean Link New Jersey, an offshore transmission network to deliver wind power from multiple generators at sea with minimal impact to local communities, marine life and views along the Garden State’s famous shoreline.
Clean Link New Jersey would help the state meet its ambitious clean energy goals and create union jobs, while boosting the rapidly emerging Mid-Atlantic offshore wind market.
Clean Link New Jersey plans to connect 2.4 gigawatts of future offshore wind capacity to the grid’s high-voltage onshore backbone. The project would install multiple subsea transmission cables through a defined “power corridor,” to minimize the environmental impact. The offshore mesh-style network is flexible and modular, to allow various offshore wind projects to plug in as they become ready to generate.
“Clean Link New Jersey will advance the Garden State’s clean energy future, providing reliable energy delivery of offshore wind generation,” said Stuart Nachmias, president and CEO of Con Edison Transmission. “As a successful independent transmission developer, we understand that the transition to a clean energy future needs to be balanced with the needs of local communities. Our proposed project will provide good-paying jobs and economic opportunity, preserve the beauty of the Jersey shoreline, and minimize disruption to New Jerseyans while helping achieve the State’s clean energy goals.”
Con Edison Transmission, Inc., a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., is developing a portfolio of transmission projects delivering renewable energy to customers. Offshore wind is an important opportunity for the company. Between them, New York and New Jersey are seeking to add 16.5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2035, making the Mid-Atlantic one of the largest future regional offshore wind markets in the world.
Delivering renewable energy at a value
Clean Link New Jersey’s power corridor proposal provides a platform for a coordinated approach to offshore wind transmission from multiple generators. The corridor includes offshore high-voltage direct current (HVDC) collector platforms as the building blocks for bringing power to the shore. All elements of the project design contribute to Clean Link New Jersey’s commitment to reliability and resiliency.
The project can connect these platforms and potentially other nearby platforms by alternating-current (AC) connections to create an affordable resilient connection and the flexibility to support the growing offshore wind generation capacity.
Building in the needs of the community and the environment
Con Edison Transmission selected HVDC technology, which is less intrusive than AC and can be placed underground resulting in a smaller project footprint and less disruption to the community.
Clean Link New Jersey has the potential to decrease the reliance on must-run generation, which is predominately fossil-fuel generation, by as much as 42 percent, and decrease the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by up to 4 percent.
100 years of industry leadership
The Con Edison companies have more than 100 years of experience developing, constructing, maintaining, and operating transmission facilities. The companies have approximately 143,000 miles of underground and overhead electric transmission and distribution infrastructure in a large urban environment and are leaders within the electric industry. The Clean Link New Jersey project team will build on this extensive knowledge and experience and will be supported by subject matter and industry-specific experts through its strategic partnerships. It will also explore additional partnerships as necessary to successfully implement the project for the benefit of New Jerseyans.
Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy-delivery companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $63 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through the following subsidiaries: Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., a regulated utility providing electric service in New York City and New York’s Westchester County, gas service in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens and parts of Westchester, and steam service in Manhattan; Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., a regulated utility serving customers in a 1,300-square-mile-area in southeastern New York State and northern New Jersey; Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, Inc., the second-largest solar developer in the United States, which, through its subsidiaries develops, owns and operates renewable and energy infrastructure projects and provides energy-related products and services to wholesale and retail customers; and Con Edison Transmission, Inc., which falls under the oversight of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and invests in integral electric transmission projects supporting its parent company’s effort to transition to clean, renewable energy. Con Edison Transmission manages both electric and gas assets while seeking to develop electric transmission projects that will bring clean, renewable electricity to customers, focusing on New York, New England, the Mid-Atlantic states and the Midwest.