List of power stations in New Jersey facts for kids

New Jersey is a state in the United States that needs a lot of electricity to power homes, schools, and businesses. This article tells you about the different types of power plants in New Jersey that make this electricity.

In 2023, New Jersey's power plants could make a total of 16,838 megawatts (MW) of electricity. They actually produced 64,228 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity that year. A gigawatt-hour is a huge amount of energy, enough to power many homes!

In 2024, New Jersey got its electricity from several sources:

• Almost half (49.6%) came from natural gas.
• Another large part (45%) came from nuclear power.
• A smaller amount (2.9%) came from solar power.
• Even smaller amounts came from biomass (1.1%), other gases (0.3%), and tiny bits from petroleum and wind power.
• About 1% came from other sources.

New Jersey wants to use more clean energy. In 2018, the state decided that 21% of its electricity should come from renewable energy sources by 2021. This goal increased to 35% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. In February 2023, the governor, Phil Murphy, set an even bigger goal: 100% clean electricity by 2035! This includes energy sources that don't produce pollution, even if they are not renewable.

Most of New Jersey's renewable energy comes from solar panels. About 75% of the state's renewable electricity in 2023 was from solar. Many people have solar panels on their homes (small-scale solar). These small solar setups added an extra 3,403 GWh of energy to the state's power grid in 2024. This was almost twice as much as the large solar farms produced!

Types of Power Stations

New Jersey uses different kinds of power plants to make electricity. Let's look at them!

Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear power stations use the energy released from splitting atoms to create heat, which then makes steam to spin turbines and generate electricity. New Jersey has two main nuclear power plants, both run by PSEG Nuclear. The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station stopped working on September 17, 2018.

Fossil Fuel Power Plants

Fossil fuels like natural gas and petroleum are burned to create heat, which makes steam to generate electricity.

Natural Gas Plants

Many power plants in New Jersey use natural gas. This is a common way to make electricity.

Petroleum Plants

Some plants use petroleum (oil) to make electricity, often for backup or smaller needs.

Renewable Power Plants

Renewable energy comes from natural sources that can be replaced, like sunlight or wind.

Biomass and Waste-to-Energy Plants

These plants use biomass (like plant material) or municipal solid waste (trash) to create energy. Burning waste can produce heat to make electricity.

Hydroelectric Plants

Hydroelectric power uses the force of moving water, usually from a dam, to spin turbines and make electricity.

Wind Farms

Wind farms use large wind turbines to capture the energy from wind and turn it into electricity.

Solar Power Plants

Solar power plants use solar panels (photovoltaic cells) to convert sunlight directly into electricity. New Jersey has many solar installations, both large and small. As of September 2024, there are over 90 large solar farms (over 5 MW) and many smaller ones.

Energy Storage Plants

Energy storage plants don't make electricity, but they store it so it can be used later when needed.

Battery Storage

Battery storage systems use large batteries to store electricity. This is useful for storing energy from renewable sources like solar, which only produce power when the sun is shining.

Pumped Storage

Pumped storage plants use water to store energy. They pump water uphill to a reservoir when electricity is cheap (like at night), and then let it flow downhill through turbines to make electricity when it's needed most.

Plants That Have Stopped Working

Some power plants in New Jersey have been closed down over the years. This often happens as older plants are replaced by newer, more efficient, or cleaner energy sources.

See also

• Wind power in New Jersey
• Solar power in New Jersey
• List of dams and reservoirs in New Jersey