Rise Light & Power, DRP hope to lure offshore wind cable makers with new US site

New York-based energy asset manager Rise Light & Power plans to invest millions of dollars to develop a shovel-ready site for a submarine cable manufacturing facility in New Jersey to serve the offshore wind industry.

The company said in a statement it has entered into a partnership with Delaware River Partners LLC (DRP) to develop a 30-acre facility at the DRP-owned Repauno Port & Rail Terminal in Greenwich Township.

The scheme will be part of the Outerbridge Renewable Connector project, the goal of which is to turn the nearly 100-year-old retired E.H. Werner coal-fired power plant into a clean energy hub. That particular project needs to be cleared by the NJ Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) and assuming that this happens, the partners will start development and permitting work to make the site shovel-ready. They hope to attract an offshore cable maker to ultimately construct and operate the facility. The idea is to lure manufacturers of both inter-array cables and export cables.

Rise pointed out that there currently is only one operational offshore wind cable production plant in the US, located in South Carolina. Such a facility, it says, can typically produce about 120 miles of cable a year, while the annual demand in the nation is estimated at 800-1,000 miles.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!