New York contracts offshore wind power from BP and Equinor

Equinor and BP have completed purchase and sale agreements with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (Nyserda) for the output of their 1260MW Empire Wind 2 Empire Wind 2 (1260MW) Offshoreoff Long Island, New York, USA, North America Click to see full details and 1230MW Beacon Wind 1 Beacon Wind 1 (1230MW) Offshoreoff Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA, North America Click to see full details projects. The projects were selected in New York’s offshore wind solicitation in January 2021. 

Empire Wind 2, to be constructed off Long Island, is due to come online in 2028. Beacon Wind 1 is scheduled to come online in 2026 and will be sited near Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

New York governor Kathy Hochul announced the finalisation of the agreements alongside US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm. 

“We know what it takes to build and sustain for the future, it’s in our DNA as New Yorkers,” governor Hochul said. “By advancing these significant offshore wind projects, we can maintain our cadence for developing projects that will spur much-needed green job creation and investment. 

They spoke at the Port of Albany, which is vying to become a leading centre for the offshore wind supply chain. 

Offshore wind is ramping up quickly in the US, especially off the northeast and midAtlantic coasts. 

President Joe Biden has set a goal for the US of 30GW of offshore wind online by 2030. Currently, the US only has 42MW online. 

By 2030, BloombergNEF projects that the US will be amongst the top three countries for offshore wind, after China and the UK. 

US government auctions of commercial wind lease areas are proceeding quickly. Most recently, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it will hold a lease auction for offshore wind sites in the New York Bight off New Jersey and New York in February.

Secretary Granholm said, “Hats off to Governor Hochul for taking a huge step towards lowering energy bills for New York households, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, and advancing president Biden’s goal of a robust offshore wind industry in America. We can and will overcome the challenge of climate change, and we’ll do it one clean energy worker at a time.”