Conference features BPU President Guhl-Sadovy, EDA CEO Sullivan, the 3 companies building offshore wind farms to supply NJ, and Vineyard Wind, the nation’s 1st large offshore wind farm

GLASSBORO –The Sweeney Center for Public Policy is hosting its third energy conference, “Moving Forward on Offshore Wind: New Challenges, New Competition,” at Rowan University on Wednesday, February 21. Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy and Economic Development Authority CEO Tim Sullivan are the opening speakers.

The conference comes in the wake of two major events last month: (1) the BPU’s award of contracts to Leading Light Wind and Attentive Energy to generate 3.7 gigawatts of offshore wind with turbines using monopiles and towers manufactured in New Jersey, and (2) the operational launch of the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, Vineyard Wind, off the coast of Massachusetts.

The offshore wind conference is being held in Rowan University’s Business Hall, Conference Room 104,, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, N.J., from 8:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Registration for both in-person and virtual attendance is free; to sign up, please click here or go to Events (rowan.edu). Registration and breakfast open at 8 a.m. The conference is followed by a networking lunch.

“Orsted’s decision to pull out of its Ocean Wind projects in New Jersey was a serious setback and followed the cancellation of three New England projects,” said Mark Magyar, Sweeney Center director. “However, the latest round of BPU awards not only reinvigorated New Jersey’s offshore wind initiative, but also guaranteed that those turbines will be built on monopiles and towers manufactured in New Jersey.”

In addition to Guhl-Sadovy and Sullivan, speakers at the conference will include:
• Wes Jacobs, Project Director, Leading Light Wind
• Damian Bednar, Managing Director, Attentive Energy
• Terence Kelly, Head of External Affairs, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind
• Dan Kent, Labor Relations Manager, Vineyard Offshore
• Anne Reynolds. Vice President of Offshore Wind, American Clean Energy Association
• Dan Fatton, Director, Offshore Wind Sector, New Jersey Economic Development Authority

“Vineyard Wind proved that industrial-scale offshore wind development on the Atlantic Seaboard is achievable and offers a roadmap for New Jersey to follow,” said Magyar, who authored a report, Benchmarking New Jersey on Offshore Wind, last May. “New York State awarded contracts to generate 4.1 gigawatts from offshore wind in October, and the federal government awarded final approvals last month for Virginia’s 2.5-gigawatt Dominion Wind. Despite the setbacks, offshore wind development is moving forward.”

For further information, please contact Mark Magyar at magyarm@rowan.edu.