Vineyard Wind joins race for offshore capacity in New York waters

Vineyard Wind LLC has responded to New York state’s second solicitation for offshore wind capacity with proposals that include six options for up to 1.3 GW.

The developer, which is a 50/50 partnership between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid Renewables LLC, is taking part in the competition with its Liberty Wind project, it said on Thursday. It explained that one of the options would represent "the single largest direct economic benefit commitment of any offshore wind project in the United States to date."

According to the company’s estimates, the proposed capacity will be capable of generating enough electricity to about 700,000 homes and businesses in New York.

The Liberty Wind project calls for the installation of offshore wind turbines 84 miles east of Montauk Point.

Vineyard Wind placed its bid with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) as part of a tender for up to 2.5 GW of offshore wind, launched in July. The solicitation supports the state's goals to secure 100% of its overall electricity from renewable energy by 2040 and add at least 9 GW of offshore wind by 2035.

Vineyard Wind's rivals in the competition will be Denmark’s Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) and New England utility Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) with their Sunrise Wind 2 project and Norwegian energy major Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) with proposed two projects -- Beacon Wind, Empire Wind Phase 2.

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