ap photo This Feb. 10 photo shows land-based wind energy turbines in Atlantic City, N.J. Offshore wind energy projects in many places in the U.S. are facing local opposition from those who fear possible environmental, economic and aesthetic impacts from placing turbines at sea.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — It’s just one cable meant to bring electricity from an offshore wind farm to a former coal-burning power plant in southern New Jersey, but it symbolizes a big challenge facing the renewable energy industry.

The cable has been fought over for nearly three years, with no end in sight in a state whose officials are eager to get offshore wind power up and running.

Thousands of wind turbines have been proposed for areas along the U.S. coastline as the nation tries to meet an ambitious goal of deploying enough of them offshore by 2030 to power 10 million homes.

So far, just one project is up and running, in Rhode Island, while another is under construction off Virginia, where two of an expected 176 turbines are operating.

But obstacles like the single contentious cable in New Jersey show the challenge the offshore wind energy industry must overcome — quickly — if it is to come anywhere close to meeting its goals.

Josh Kaplowitz, a vice president with American Clean Power, a federation of renewable energy companies, said offshore wind is crucial to addressing climate change, generating electricity and creating new jobs. But before any of that can happen, the energy needs to reach land.

“The fact is, realizing these benefits requires the construction of onshore infrastructure that allows the power to come ashore and feed into the electrical grid,” he said.

Plenty of people in Ocean City, a popular beach community south of Atlantic City, are dead-set against a project proposed by Orsted and PSEG that still needs state approval to bring a power line onshore.

“We don’t want this here in any way, shape or form,” said resident Suzanne Hornick, a leader of local opposition to the plan.

She cites concerns about damage to the environment, the possibility of higher rates being charged to consumers, and the general lack of certainty about what is a brand new industry in this country.

The U.S. has 27 wind farm projects in development, with an additional five locations up for auction in California next month, according to the Business Network for Offshore Wind, a nonprofit dedicated to helping develop the offshore wind industry.