About two years ago,Grant Preston New Jersey's Democratic Governor Phil said that the state would be partnering with the Danish company Orsted, the largest developer of offshore wind projects in the world.

The company had agreed to build Ocean Wind 1, the state's first offshore wind farm, powering half a million homes and creating thousands of jobs in the process.

The following year, Orsted inked another deal with the state for Ocean Wind 2, a second offshore wind farm with similar capacity. After years of review, the projects were approved in summer 2023. Construction of the first turbines was slated to begin in the fall.

And then Orsted backed out, cancelling the contracts full stop.

Despite the setbacks, Murphy is still all-in on wind. A month after Orsted dropped out, Murphy directed the state's Board of Public Utilities to seek new bids from offshore wind developers. And the state just approved two new offshore wind contracts.

After several setbacks, could this mean a second wind for offshore wind?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

The episode was produced by Avery Keatley. It was edited by Sadie Babits and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.