Historic Wave Energy Legislation Initiative Takes a Significant Step Forward in New Jersey

Eco Wave Power Global AB applauds the progress of New Jersey State Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak’s Wave Energy Legislation Bill Initiative (A4483), which encourages the state of New Jersey to explore a deployment plan for wave energy technologies in the State of New Jersey, including the creation of financial incentives and the promotion of public-private partnerships.

The New Jersey State Assembly’s Special Committee on Infrastructure and Natural Resources unanimously agreed to advance the bill. In the next step, State Senator Andrew Zwicker will introduce the bill in the New Jersey State Senate.

He is the head of the Science Education Department of the Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory, and he is the State Senate sponsor of the bill, which will be introduced to the Senate by September 29^th, 2022.

The bill is expected to go to the Senate Environment and Energy Committee.

“Wind and solar is not going to be the savior, period. There has to be other energy sources that will fill some of these gaps,” said Karabinchak (D-Middlesex). “If it’s nighttime, that solar farm isn’t doing a thing. If the wind slows down on these farms, there has to be something else, some other energy source, that will fill that gap.”

Assemblyman Don Guardian (R-Atlantic), a committee member, who served as mayor until 2018 in Atlantic City, where Karabinchak hopes to pilot a wave energy project on the Steel Pier echoed Karabinchak’s defense of the bill.

“It’s a clean source of energy that I think provides the least negative impact on our environment, and it’s free energy, once you have the capital costs,” Guardian said. “I think it would be foolish for New Jersey not to be leading the nation and the world in at least studying if this is practical.”