Oil supermajor bp said it is still evaluating its options for Beacon Wind, the offshore wind plan it withdrew from New York’s renewable development queue early this year.
Reuters reported June 27 that CEO Murray Auchincloss had taken steps to refocus bp on oil and gas, pausing new offshore wind development and instituting a hiring freeze.
It was a sharp reversal from the transition away from fossil fuels begun by his predecessor, Reuters said. And it followed a decision by the subsidiary of another oil supermajor, Shell, to divest its 50% share of the SouthCoast Wind proposal off the New England coast.
NetZero Insider asked bp about the impact of Auchincloss’ decision on its proposals in New York: Beacon Wind, a two-phase wind farm on a 128,811-acre tract off the southeast end of Long Island, and the Astoria Gateway for Renewable Energy, a converter station for the power generated by Beacon.
The Gateway would be built on the northwest end of Long Island, in a New York City neighborhood where a gas turbine peaker plant once stood.
A U.S.-based bp spokesperson indicated no decision has been made on the New York plans: “We are pursuing a disciplined, value-driven development approach to the Beacon Wind and Astoria Gateway for Renewable Energy projects, which includes taking the necessary time to fully evaluate the initial design plans. This will enable us to continue advancing the developments and deliver the highest value to local communities and bp.”
The company website lists offshore wind plans in Germany, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the U.S., Beacon.
Beacon Wind was a product of the 50-50 partnership between bp and Equinor, the Norwegian oil and gas producer making a hard push into renewables.
The two had secured a contract from New York for the 1,230-MW Beacon Wind 1 in New York’s 2020 solicitation and unsuccessfully bid the 1,360-MW Beacon Wind 2 into New York’s 2022 solicitation.
Beacon Wind 1 became one of the many offshore wind casualties in 2023 and early 2024, when the majority of projects along the Northeast coast were canceled outright or canceled offtake agreements. Amid soaring costs, it had become financially untenable to proceed to construction with revenue agreements locked in years earlier.
Equinor and bp also held New York contracts for Empire Wind 1 and 2, and decided to cancel them, as well.
Amid the fallout, the two companies dissolved their partnership.
As part of the split, Beacon and Astoria went to bp. Empire went to Equinor, which continued to actively develop the proposal.
New York recently awarded Empire Wind 1 a new contract at a much higher strike price. Equinor expects to “mature” Empire Wind 2 and rebid it into a future solicitation.
After the split, Equinor also took sole ownership of the partners’ lease of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. It is now converting the site to an offshore wind hub for Empire and for future projects other companies envision off the Northeast coast. The contractor, Skanska, has said the contract is valued at $861 million.
