Equinor Gets SAP Nod for Empire Wind

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has approved a site assessment plan (SAP) submitted by Equinor Wind US for the OCS-A 0512 wind lease area offshore New York.

The five-year site assessment term started on 21 November, allowing Equinor to carry out wind resource measurements and metocean data gathering at the site.

Equinor (formerly Statoil) won the New York offshore wind lease sale in December 2016, agreeing to pay USD 42.5 million for rights to build an offshore wind farm at the area which could potentially accommodate up to 1.8GW.

A phased development is expected to start with 400-800MW, with potential operations beginning in the mid-2020s. The project is being developed under the name of Empire Wind.

The lease area covers 79,350 acres and starts approximately 11.5 nautical miles (nm) from Jones Beach, NY. From its western edge, the area extends approximately 24 nm southeast at its longest portion. The lease area consists of five full Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) blocks and 143 sub-blocks.

The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is expected to hold the state’s first offshore wind auction to procure around 800MW of offshore wind capacity by the end of the year.