SICKLERVILLE, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — State energy and economic officials toured a new state-of-the-art training facility in Camden County on Friday where apprentices are training in underwater welding to install offshore wind turbines off the coast of Atlantic City.
The Sicklerville facility is like nowhere else in the country. Welders in dive suits get top-notch training in the lake behind the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters building. It is the only training facility in the country to earn necessary global offshore certifications.
This facility — as well as similar ones in Paulsboro and Lower Alloways Creek — make the region a national leader in the offshore wind industry. New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy said this will create thousands of family-sustaining union jobs.
“The future of offshore wind in New Jersey is strong and it’s built on the foundation of a skilled workforce made possible through critical training programs like this,” she said.
Once up and running, the turbines, located 40 miles off of Atlantic City, will produce enough electricity to power nearly 2 million homes and provide nearly $7 billion in economic benefits, mostly in South Jersey.
“This portfolio of projects collectively represents what offshore wind offers: clean energy that will yield environmental benefits for generations to come,” Guhl-Sadovy said.
“We’re talking a litany of huge economic opportunities, overwhelmingly if not entirely union jobs,” added New Jersey Economic Development Authority CEO Tim Sullivan. “Bringing massive economic benefits to the state. Nearly $7 billion of estimated economic output here, thousands of construction jobs, thousands of permanent jobs attached to this, in manufacturing, in assembly, in maintenance, in construction.”