Bechtel tapped to build N.J. offshore transmission line

E&E • Posted: Friday, January 18, 2013

A Google Inc.-backed project has hired the contracting firm that constructed the Hoover Dam to build the first part of an offshore transmission system off the coast of New Jersey.

Bechtel Corp. is slated to start building the project in 2016. Project developer Atlantic Grid Development LLC’s entire plan would link 7,000 megawatts of offshore wind turbine capacity to shore. It would carry as much as 3,000 MW of power to 1 million households by 2019 (Greenwire, Jan. 15). Called the New Jersey Energy Link the system is slated to cost $1.8 billion, the developer said in a statement.

“The transmission system in New Jersey could benefit greatly from this line,” said Atlantic Grid CEO Robert Mitchell. “It will be the most efficient way to deliver offshore wind to shore.”

The United States has no offshore wind farms operating or under construction, although there are several proposed projects in the pipeline along the East Coast. Atlantic Grid officials are looking to build in New Jersey because of strong support for offshore wind there, Mitchell said (Andrew Herndon,Bloomberg, Jan. 17)