New York Reveals Offshore Wind Power Play

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has called for a procurement of at least 800MW of offshore wind power between two solicitations to be issued in 2018 and 2019.

These solicitations will be the first in a set schedule to reach the 2030 target of 2.4GW of commissioned offshore wind capacity set last year, Cuomo said while presenting the 20th proposal of the 2018 State of the State, an agenda to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and growing the clean energy economy.

In addition, Governor Cuomo is directing the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to invest USD 15 million in clean energy workforce development and infrastructure advancement to train workers for jobs in this industry, including offshore wind construction, installation, operation, maintenance, design and associated infrastructure.

To attract private investment in port infrastructure and supply chain activities, Cuomo has further directed NYSERDA to work with Empire State Development and other state agencies to determine the most promising public and private offshore wind port infrastructure investments.

Cuomo is also launching an initiative to deploy 1,500MW of energy storage by 2025 to address the intermittency of clean resources like wind and solar.