The South Jersey Ports has been granted a $9 million boost to upgrade the Salem Marine Terminal to strengthen its foothold in building, supporting, and manufacturing key components for the offshore wind energy industry blossoming off the Atlantic coast.

The Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant, which has been in the works for more than a year, comes as President Biden was preparing to sign the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package that will mean an unprecedented investment of tens of billions of dollars into New Jersey’s ports, roads, airports, and other critical infrastructure over the next decade.

Added to the billions of dollars of public and private investments in South Jersey ports and specialised manufacturing to support offshore wind energy farms, the grant helps to fuel the state’s leadership in the $100 Billion offshore wind energy industry.

“The potential for the Port of Salem to take on millions of dollars in new business is tremendous. But when opportunity comes knocking you have to be ready to open the door,” said Senator Menendez during the award ceremony. “That’s why every penny we invest to upgrade the Salem Marine Terminal today is setting the stage for new business in the green energy space.

Salem Marine Terminal – with multi-modal rail connections, its barge, and navigation expertise along the Salem River, close links to interstate highways and bridges, and its sibling South Jersey marine terminals – will be ideal for logistical and maintenance support for the huge ocean wind-energy farms.

New Jersey is on track to invest $1 billion to lead the offshore wind energy industry in the United States. The South Jersey Port has already invested $400 million to develop the Port of Paulsboro into a general cargo marine terminal that was built with heavy-load decks to accommodate the massive weight of offshore wind energy components.

For the past year, EEW America Offshore Structures, a worldwide leading producer of monopoles, has been building a $300 million state-of-the-art monopole plant at Paulsboro.

Doubling down, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority is building a $250 million Wind Port in Lower Alloways Township – 11 miles from the Salem Marine Terminal – to manufacture, assemble, and deploy the huge offshore turbines and blades.