At the end of Steel Pier, with the ocean as a backdrop, Fishermen’s Energy, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, State Senator Jim Whelan, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, Jose Zayas, U.S. Department of Energy Director of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, and numerous officials, memorialized the $46.7 million of grant funding over four years to accelerate the commercialization of innovative offshore wind technologies in the United States.
This funding will supplement the investment by Fishermen’s Energy principals to finalize construction planning, fabrication, and deployment to achieve commercial operation by 2016, of a demonstration wind farm of five turbines 2.8 miles off of Atlantic City, potentially the first offshore wind farm in America.
“Clean, responsible energy development projects like this bring good – paying jobs to our state and help us modernize New Jersey’s economy,” said Senator Robert Menendez. “We must continue looking into innovative energy options — like clean wind and solar projects — that can one day become the next energy giant and can reinvigorate our workforce in the 21st century global economy.”
“Projects like Fishermen’s Atlantic City wind farm and the other projects sponsored by the Department of Energy are a first step in the direction of a building a robust sustainable energy infrastructure,” said Chris Wissemann, Fishermen’s Energy CEO. “The support provided by Congress, specifically the NJ delegation, and the Department of Energy is critical to bringing offshore wind to the United States. Our goal here in Atlantic City is to build a commercially operational wind farm that demonstrates job creation and specifically to show that these types of projects create benefits that far exceed their costs,” Wissemann continued.
Fishermen’s Energy has all Federal and State permits necessary for construction of the first demonstration offshore wind farm to be built in the US, making the Atlantic City resort the birthplace of offshore wind in the Americas. Construction in Atlantic City is planned to commence onshore in 2015 with offshore construction and commissioning by Fishermen’s of the first grid connected US offshore wind farm in 2016.
In 2012, DOE announced the start of an initiative to capture the potential of wind energy off American coasts. As part of a planned six-year $180 million initiative, these offshore wind projects will accelerate the deployment of breakthrough wind power technologies that will help diversify our nation’s energy portfolio, promote economic development, and launch a new industry here in America.
— Source: Fisherman’s Energy
