LoginLooking to build the country's first offshore windfarm, Fisherman's Energy said it is ready to break ground on the massive project as soon as it gets the go-ahead from New Jersey utility officials.
Fisherman's said it expects to hear from the state's Board of Public Utilities in March about its proposal to sell electricity from the offshore windfarm, according to the Press of Atlantic City. Once approved, officials said construction could begin on the mainland by September.
The proposed $220 million project, which would include five turbines about 3 miles off Atlantic City, is expected to create 240 construction jobs and employ approximately 35 permanent workers once it's up and running in the fall of 2013.
Meanwhile, the news is not as promising for Vestas Wind Systems, one of the world's largest makers of wind turbines. The Associated Press reports the Denmark-based company said it may lay off 1,600 workers in the U.S. if federal lawmakers refuse to extend tax breaks for renewable energy.
Vestas was awarded $51 million in tax credits in the U.S., where it invested more than $1 billion to support a number of facilities, including four in Colorado.