Rebuffed on its repowering plans, a subsidiary of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) is planning to demolish the 558-MW Astoria Generating Station in New York City and sell the site to an offshore wind developer.

Astoria Gas Turbine Power LLC (AGTP) and Beacon Wind Land LLC petitioned the state Public Service Commission on Sept. 15 and asked for approval on or before the PSC’s Nov. 17 session.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in October 2021 denied AGTP’s request to refurbish the aging facility with a new 437-MW dual fossil fuel-fired peaking combustion turbine generator on the grounds that it would not comply with greenhouse gas emission limits set in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

“Astoria has failed to demonstrate that the project is justified notwithstanding this inconsistency [with state emission limits], as it has not demonstrated a reliability need for the project,” DEC said. “Nor has Astoria identified adequate alternatives or GHG mitigation measures.” (See NY Regulators Deny Astoria, Danskammer Gas Projects’ Air Permits.)

Environmental and community activists applauded the ruling; the surrounding area in northwest Queens, with its collection of fossil fuel power plants past and present, has been nicknamed “Asthma Alley.”

AGTP plans to retire the power plant on May 1, 2023, then decommission and demolish it within six months. 

Under the arrangement outlined in the new petition, AGTP would sell the 15.7-acre site to Beacon Wind Land and lease it back while it winds down operations there, which it expects to complete by Oct. 31, 2023. 

Beacon Wind Land is an affiliate of Beacon Wind LLC, which is developing the 1,230-MW Beacon Wind project east of Long Island. When AGTP clears the Astoria site, Beacon Wind Land will lease it to Beacon Wind LLC or another affiliate to locate converter stations and points of interconnection for offshore wind power cables, or other renewable energy resources.

Beacon Wind Land LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shared Renewable Energy Assets LLC, which is jointly owned by Equinor Wind US LLC and BP Wind Energy North America, Inc.

Equinor and BP are also upstream owners of Empire Offshore Wind LLC, which is developing the 816-MW Empire Wind 1 and 1,365-MW Empire Wind 2 projects off the New York coast.