Before Chris Maldonado could hire a team to fabricate the colossal steel towers that will hold clean wind energy turbines aloft off the Jersey Shore, he needed to build a worksite big enough for the job.

During two years as a project manager for a German wind energy supplier EEW, Maldonado has overseen the transformation of a gritty industrial waterfront in Paulsboro, a small township in South Jersey. It’s being turned into a factory serving the offshore wind energy industry. EEW is developing the facility for its client, Danish energy company Ørsted, with $250 million in funding from the state government.

The factory being built here is the largest offshore wind manufacturing plant in the U.S., according to its developers and Gov. Phil Murphy. This week, it is receiving and offloading the components from Europe needed to begin assembly. Located at the Port of Paulsboro on the Delaware River, directly opposite the Philadelphia airport, the site was used for decades as a petroleum and petrochemical storage facility before the state rebuilt and expanded its marine terminal.

Despite the concerns of environmental groups about the impacts of increased shipping on the river, the port is now expanding to handle these enormous offshore wind towers. Construction of buildings and commissioning of machinery will continue at the 70-acre port site until the end of 2024, boosting its capacity and reducing the team's reliance on pre-assembled components that require shipping from Europe.

To learn more about the project, WNYC host Sean Carlson spoke with environmental photojournalist Nathan Kensinger and John Upton, an editor at Climate Central. Click "listen" in the player to hear their conversation, and visit Gothamist for the full story. 

This story was produced through a collaboration between Gothamist and Climate Central.