Impact of cancelled Orsted wind projects felt beyond Jersey Shore
BRIGANTINE, N.J. (CBS) -- The impact of the cancellation of two major offshore wind projects is being felt beyond the Jersey Shore.
Orsted, the company behind the projects, said financial pressures and supply chain challenges forced them to abandon plans to build wind turbines 15 miles off the coast of Ocean City.
EEW Group, an international manufacturer, was planning to build monopiles for Orsted's turbines in Paulsboro at a facility that would employ hundreds of people.
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EEW Group said in a statement it's going to take them time to evaluate the potential consequences of the project's cancellation.
Paulsboro's mayor said he'll be participating in a conference call with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Friday afternoon to discuss the economic impact of the project's cancellation.
Patrick Jay Simpson runs Guardians of the East Coast, one of the grassroots groups working to stop offshore wind projects.
He believed Orsted's now-shuttered projects would bring momentum to his group's movement and its efforts to stop another offshore wind project, Atlantic Shores, which would be built off the coast of Atlantic City and Brigantine.
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"We knocked Orsted out so next we got to go to Atlantic Shores. That's the next project," Simpson said. "We're not going to stop fighting. We're actually going to triple our efforts."
The company said it's also facing financial and supply chain challenges, but the company said it plans to work with state leaders and regulators to come up with solutions that'll keep them on target for 2027.
