By Michael Kuser and Rich Heidorn Jr.

Four developers proposed 18 offshore wind projects last week in response to a solicitation by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority in consultation with the New York Power Authority and the Long Island Power Authority.

New York’s Public Service Commission last July authorized state agencies to procure 800 MW of offshore wind energy by the end of this year after Gov. Andrew Cuomo set a target of 2,400 MW by 2030. Last month, he dramatically upped that goal to 9 GW by 2035. (See New York Boosts Zero-carbon, Renewable Goals.)

Five developers initially told NYSERDA they intended to respond to the request for proposals NYSERDA issued in November (ORECRFP18-1), but one, Mayflower Wind Energy (a joint venture of EDPR Offshore North America and Shell New Energies US) did not submit a bid by the Feb. 14 deadline, the agency said.

Those bidding were:

• Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind (a joint venture of EDF Renewables North America and Shell New Energies US), which would build off the New Jersey coast.
• Bay State Wind (a joint venture of Ørsted A/S and Eversource Energy), which is proposing a project called Sunrise Wind that would be in the waters off Massachusetts and Rhode Island, about 30 miles from Montauk Point.
• Equinor Wind US, which proposed a project called Empire Wind. The company (formerly Statoil) said the 80,000-acre lease it won in 2016 could produce up to 2,000 MW. It is located 14 to 35 miles south of Long Island in the New York Bight.
• Vineyard Wind (a joint venture of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables), which partnered with Anbaric Development Partners in proposing up to 1,200 MW of offshore wind. The joint venture, Liberty Wind, submitted proposals sized at 400, 800 and 1,200 MW, each of which couples energy generation with transmission components.

“Today’s record response provides the robust competition needed to responsibly develop offshore wind for New Yorkers while spurring billions in private sector investment in New York, creating thousands of jobs and putting the state on a path to a carbon-neutral future,” NYSERDA said in a statement.

Companies Scramble for Position

Vineyard last May won a contract from Massachusetts for a 1,200-MW offshore wind project off Martha’s Vineyard. Anbaric helped build the 660-MW Neptune HVDC cable linking PJM to Long Island and contributed to the 660-MW Hudson project connecting midtown Manhattan to the RTO.

Anbaric also has several interconnection requests and slots with NYISO, including for a 500-MW HVDC line and 800-MW AC line connecting into Ruland Road on Long Island, as well as a 1,200-MW HVDC line and additional 800-MW AC connection into the Farragut substation in Brooklyn. (See Anbaric Pushes Offshore Grid Plans.)

The Liberty Wind proposal includes fabricating foundation components at a port facility near Albany and transporting them down the Hudson River to the project site in the Atlantic Ocean.

Bay State announced on Feb. 7 that Eversource had paid about $225 million for 50% of Ørsted’s Revolution Wind and South Fork Wind Farm projects and its 257-square-mile tract off the Massachusetts and Rhode Island coasts — assets Ørsted acquired in November from Deepwater Wind.

Equinor said its Empire Wind project is the first step toward its plan “to take a leading role in renewable energy development in the U.S.” It also is proposing Boardwalk Wind in response to New Jersey’s offshore wind solicitation in December. Equinor acquired a second lease area in December, a 128,000-acre site off the coast of Massachusetts.

EDF and Shell announced Atlantic Shores as a 50/50 joint venture in December. The companies’ lease area has potential for producing 2,500 MW. EDF, which has 2,800 MW of offshore wind in development or operation in Europe, said the joint venture is part of its plan to double its global renewable capacity to 50 GW by 2030.