Future of Paulsboro Monopile Plant at Risk Due to Tax Credit Competition

On Jun 7, 2023

New Jersey remains in the forefront of U.S. offshore wind development with ambitious energy production goals and major investments in supply chain and port infrastructure, but the future of its first-in-the nation monopile manufacturing facility in Paulsboro is clouded, according to “Benchmarking New Jersey on Offshore Wind,” a study released yesterday by the Sweeney Center for Public Policy at Rowan University.

“Competition between states and companies is increasingly intense. With New York allowing Orsted to use federal offshore wind tax credits, we need to do the same to make sure that the EEW American Offshore Structures Inc.’s (EEW AOS) monopile manufacturing facility in Paulsboro is able to expand, increase union jobs and supply our offshore wind farms with American-made components,” said Steve Sweeney, the former N.J. Senate president who chairs the policy center’s advisory board.

Tim Sullivan, CEO of the state Economic Development Authority, warned the Assembly Budget Committee last month that New Jersey is in danger of losing its “first mover advantage” and being left behind in the competition for offshore wind jobs and economic growth.

“Benchmarking New Jersey on Offshore Wind puts New Jersey’s offshore wind development efforts in national context,” said Sweeney Center Director Mark Magyar, the report’s author. “While Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind 1 is under construction and will be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the nation, New Jersey has been the leader in supply chain, manufacturing and port infrastructure investment.

“The EDA’s $637.7 million New Jersey Wind Port is the nation’s largest port facility investment. Governor Murphy set the most ambitious offshore wind target in the nation and his Administration has been particularly aggressive in requiring companies to invest in New Jersey projects as a condition of power purchase agreements,” Magyar said. “What is at risk is the future of the EEW AOS monopile plant, which was the first major private sector investment in creating a U.S.-based manufacturing industry to supply the offshore wind industry.”

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