New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced the state has conditionally awarded two offshore wind projects from its fourth offshore wind solicitation — a planned 810-megawatt project, Empire Wind 1, and Sunrise Wind, a planned 924-megawatt project.
Empire Wind 1 is being developed by Equinor, while Sunrise Wind is being developed by Orsted and Eversource.
As mature projects, Empire Wind I, located 15 miles off New York’s shore, and Sunrise Wind, located more than 30 miles east of the eastern point of Long Island, have already completed most federal and state permitting milestones, including Empire Wind I receiving final approval of their Construction and Operations plan from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in February.
Both projects are expected to ramp up construction activity this year while driving local investments and enhanced economic benefits to New York State at cost-competitive rates.
The awards are conditional on successful contract execution. In addition, the Community Offshore Wind 2 project has been waitlisted and may be considered for award and contract negotiation at a later date.
Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind were previously awarded by NYSERDA in 2019 as part of NYSERDA’s first offshore wind solicitation.
As part of these awards, the projects will be held to new contract provisions that bring additional benefits to the state.
The weighted average all-in development cost of the awarded offshore wind projects over the life of the contracts is $150.15 per megawatt-hour which is on-par with the latest market prices.
Following successful contract execution, NYSERDA payments under these awards will only begin once projects have obtained all required permits and approvals, have been completed and begin delivering clean energy to New York.
