New York State wants to procure at least 2 GW of offshore wind and start to implement a $500 million infrastructure plan as part of its latest competitive solicitation.
The New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is administering the procurement, which drives toward the state's goal of developing 9 GW of offshore wind by 2035.
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Several states are jockeying to become the hub for offshore wind development off the Atlantic Coast. But New York has gone further than others by committing $500 million to build out offshore wind ports and manufacturing infrastructure to support the nascent industry.
In this third and most recent offshore wind solicitation, the state is introducing a new offshore wind transmission configuration dubbed "meshed ready." Details are expected to be released in August, but the concept aims to support future development and save the state $55-60 million annually. NYSERDA said it will also award evaluation points to projects that repurpose existing fossil-based electric generation infrastructure and use energy storage.
In promoting the intent of the New York Buy American Act, the solicitation sets a minimum U.S. iron and steel purchase requirement for all projects awarded under the solicitation to encourage domestic steel production and requiring developers to provide opportunities for U.S.-based steel suppliers to participate in the growing offshore wind industry.
Interested proposers can apply on NYSERDA's offshore wind solicitation page. Proposals are due on December 22.
Leaders celebrate the groundbreaking for South Fork Wind-- New York's first offshore wind project (Courtesy: South Fork Wind) In February, work began on New York's first offshore wind farm, the 132 MW South Fork Wind project located 19 miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island. The partnership between Ørsted and Eversource is the second commercial-scale offshore wind project to receive federal approval in the U.S.
South Fork Wind is approved to install 12 or fewer wind turbines. The project will use Siemens-Gamesa’s 11 MW turbines. Kiewit Offshore Services will design and build the project’s substation.
To date, New York has five offshore wind projects and five ports under active development.
A look at New York’s wind projects (Source: NYSERDA)On Feb 25., the U.S. completed its most successful offshore wind lease auction in history.
New York Bight is an area of ocean off the coasts of New York and New Jersey that was divided into six leases for offshore wind development.
The expected installed capacity for the 488,000 acres within New York Bight is expected to be between 5.6 GW and 7 GW, enough to power 2 million homes. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said capacity could be even higher depending on development plans.
The New York Bight offshore wind lease auction fetched a record $4.37 billion from companies looking to develop the waters.
New York Bight was the Biden administration’s first offshore wind lease auction and the first for the U.S. since 2018.
Five of six winning bids have roots in Europe, which has a more advanced offshore wind market than the U.S. Europe's offshore wind capacity totaled 25 GW at the end of 2020, while the U.S. has only two small offshore wind installments in operation — the Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind test pilot.
