New York to open 800-MW offshore wind solicitation by end-2018

A picture from Cathie Associates visit to the US’ first commercial offshore wind farm; Block Island.

New York will launch its debut offshore wind solicitation, targeting 800 MW of capacity, in the last quarter of this year, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday.

The solicitation is in line with the state's previously set target for 2,400 MW of offshore wind by 2030 and will be the first phase of New York’s procurement programme for offshore wind. Through the solicitation, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will buy the offshore wind renewable energy certificates (ORECs) from the awarded projects and sell them to electric utilities and third-party electricity providers in New York.

A technical conference for discussing the solicitation process will be organised on July 23.

The 800-MW solicitation will be held in consultation with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). Winners in it are expected to be announced in the second quarter of 2019. If needed, a second round will take place next year.

As part of the selection process, NYSERDA has been authorised to include project labour agreements and prevailing wages as contract requirements for any winning project.

At the beginning of the year, NYSERDA was directed to invest USD 15 million (EUR 12.9m) in clean energy workforce development and infrastructure advancement to train workers for jobs in the offshore wind industry, in line with the 2,400-MW plan. According to its estimates, New York’s offshore wind industry can attract some USD 6 billion of investment that will create about 5,000 jobs by 2030.

"Robust offshore wind development is not only critical to meeting our clean energy and carbon reduction goals, this investment has the potential to create thousands of jobs and fuel a USD-6-billion industry for New York as it combats climate change," Cuomo said.

The state has set a goal of sourcing 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2030.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.858)

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