By GREGORY ZELLER //
Albany has offered conditional contracts to giant offshore-wind farms Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind – and no, you’re not stuck in some kind of “Groundhog Day” time loop.
However, you’re excused if you think you’ve heard this before, because you have: Both Empire Wind 1, developed by Norwegian energy firm Equinor, and Sunrise Wind, developed (for now) by Denmark-based Ørsted A/S and Massachusetts-based Eversource Energy, had been previously approved by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Both, in fact, were greenlighted by NYSERDA in 2019 as part of the authority’s first offshore-wind solicitation process.
But a lot has changed since then. Supply chains and entire economies have been altered by the pandemic and other factors, while political machinations have kept America from fully embracing a clean-energy future – to be sure, national views on offshore-wind energy are constantly in flux.
With projects stalling and losses mounting, the power players canceled their original contracts with New York State, and both Empire Wind 1 (an 810-megawatt wind farm rising 15 miles south of Jones Beach Island) and Sunrise Wind (a 924-MW project rising about 30 miles east of Montauk) underwent considerable changes before submission for consideration under New York 4, NYSERDA’s fourth offshore-wind solicitation.
Promises made, kept, canceled, made again: Despite previous approvals — and the subsequent cancelations — of both projects, Gov. Kathy Hochul is thrilled to announce new NYSERDA contracts for Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind.
Empire Wind 1, for instance, is no longer tethered to Empire Wind 2, a separate 1,200-MW project originally planned to rise south of its sister farm.
The re-approval of Sunrise Wind, meanwhile, triggers some serious horse trading between Ørsted and Eversource, with the former now set to acquire the latter’s 50 percent share in the ambitious project.
Despite the changes and the general sense of déjà vu, Thursday’s announcement of NYSERDA’s newest approvals was framed by Albany as another bold step toward a clean-energy future.
Downplaying the fact that the developers were forced to rethink their plans and numbers by economic downturns and the negative pull of an embattled industry, the state energy agency delivered its new conditional contracts with plenty of fanfare, boasting of $2 billion in statewide economic investments, “800 near-term family-sustaining construction jobs” and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “10-point action plan” to propel New York to the head of the green-economy class.
“I promised to make New York a place for the renewable-energy industry to do business, and we are delivering on that promise,” Hochul said in a statement. “Offshore wind is foundational to our fight against climate change, and these awards demonstrate our national leadership to advance a zero-emissions electric grid at the best value to New Yorkers.”
The interested parties, naturally, are also enthused. Trumpeting a “shovel-ready” wind farm and the pending construction of New York’s first offshore-wind port – slated to begin in the coming weeks at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal – Equinor called the fourth-solicitation approval “a major step toward developing a project that can provide renewable power to more than half-a-million New York homes.”
David Hardy: Large-scale progress.
“This is a promising new beginning for Empire Wind and we’re ready to get started,” added Equinor Renewables America President Molly Morris. “Empire Wind 1 will create value for New Yorkers and for investors for years to come.”
Ørsted Executive Vice President and CEO Americas David Hardy heralded “a new chapter of large-scale job creation and economic development” for the regional offshore-wind industry.
“We thank Gov. Hochul and her administration for their continued leadership,” Hardy added. “We’re ready to build on the foundation we’ve laid with New York’s first offshore wind project, South Fork Wind, while delivering significantly more jobs, local supply chain and community investments, and renewable power for New Yorkers.”
For the record, NYSERDA’s fourth solicitation did turn away a 1.3-gigawatt project proposed by German multinational RWE and multistate utility National Grid. But with the ink drying on the energy authority’s new conditional contracts and the 130-MW South Fork Wind already under construction east of Montauk Point, industry observers are expressing similar optimism about the regional offshore-wind industry.
New York Offshore Wind Alliance Director Fred Zalcman, for one, is charged up about the state’s eagerness to “overcome the challenges of the post-pandemic global economic order.”
“Today’s announcement signals the Hochul Administration’s unflagging commitment to the future of the New York offshore-wind industry,” Zalcman added. “The build-ready projects approved today represent significant near-term opportunities to replace aging fossil plants with clean and renewable generation, while investing in our ports and harbors, in the local manufacturing base, and in our skilled workforce.”
