Shell New Energies US LLC a subsidiary of Shell plc, announced Oct. 29 it has voluntarily withdrawn from Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, LLC and assigned its 50% outstanding membership interests to joint venture partner EDF-RE Offshore Development, LLC effective immediately.
The ultimately ill-fated Atlantic Shores joint venture between Shell and EDF Power Solutions was created when developers saw the New York Bight as a future center for developing offshore wind projects that would deliver energy to the New Jersey and New York markets.
The partners’ initial Atlantic Shores project was to be a 2.8 gigawatt array of 197 turbines off Long Beach Island and Brigantine, N.J. But its prospects declined in the face of escalating costs and diminishing hopes by renewable energy advocates, following the abrupt fall 2023 cancellation of Ørsted’s Ocean Wind project, another centerpiece of New Jersey state energy planners.
The project was a longtime target of opposition groups, including seaside beach communities and commercial fishermen, and faced a new hurdle in March when the Trump administration withdrew an air quality permit for construction.
In its Oct. 29 statement, Shell said “this decision was taken in line with Shell’s power strategy, where we continue to maximize the value of our platforms and high-grade our portfolio, shifting away from capital-intensive generation projects to assets that support our trading and retail strengths.”
