By GREGORY ZELLER //
An ambitious offshore wind farm in New York State waters has cleared another important federal hurdle.
Empire Wind 1, an 810-megawatt wind farm rising 15 miles south of Jones Beach Island now under the exclusive control of Norwegian energy firm Equinor, has been greenlighted (once again) by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which has approved the project’s Construction and Operations Plan.
The COP approval puts Empire Wind 1 on course to begin construction in its exclusive federal lease area later this year.
The project is already in advanced stages of pre-development, with a major reconstruction project aiming to transform the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into an offshore-wind industrial hub expected to begin this spring and Empire Wind slated to feed power into the regional energy grid as soon as 2026.
Molly Morris: Shared commitment.
The latest federal approval puts new wind in the sails of the Norwegian innovator, which is eager to start delivering on offshore wind’s promise for the Greater New York region, according to Equinor Renewables America President Molly Morris.
“Today’s COP approval follows years of rigorous review and collaboration with BOEM and other federal agencies,” Morris said Thursday.
The BOEM authorization is the third major blessing Empire Wind has received since Equinor cut a deal with former project partner BP plc in January giving Equinor solo ownership of Empire Wind, which the partners initially pitched as a two-pronged effort (Empire Wind 2 is currently in limbo).
The deal also gave BP exclusive rights to the Beacon Wind farm, which the British energy giant and Equinor had been double-teaming 60 miles east of Montauk Point and 20 miles south of Massachusetts.
On Feb. 1, Equinor’s South Brooklyn Marine Terminal plan – which aims to create New York’s first-ever purpose-built offshore-wind operations and maintenance facility – earned the approval of the New York City Public Design Commission. That was soon followed by a Clear Air Act permit for the Empire Wind project, issued Feb. 15 by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency.
Officially, the BOEM’s approval of the COP covers the original designs for Empire Wind 1 and Empire Wind 2, although – citing rising inflation, supply-chain woes and other concerns – Equinor and BP terminated the Empire Wind 2 proposal in January.
No sleep till Brooklyn offshore-wind hub: Equinor is hitting the gas on its Brooklyn offshore-wind maintenance and facilities hub.
That separate project could be revived under a future New York State offshore wind solicitation.
The COP approval also means the rent is due on Empire Wind’s federally leased project area: The first year’s rent payment of $15,490 for the project easement is due within 45 days of Equinor receiving the BOEM’s Feb. 22 approval letter, with the second annual rent payment coming due April 1.
Neither those hefty payments nor the BOEM’s latest approval were unexpected. The rent amounts and payment structures were well established – and the bureau actually issued a Record of Decision, essentially an overarching approval of the entire Empire Wind plan, to Equinor and BP last November.
But the COP endorsement is still a welcome development, according to Morris, who said Equinor is “grateful for a shared commitment to achieving state and federal offshore-wind ambitions.”
“Empire Wind is one step closer to delivering renewable power to hundreds of thousands of New York homes,” the Equinor Renewables America president added. “We are ready to get to work.”
