New York to Seek at Least 1GW of New Offshore Wind Capacity in 2020

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will issue its second solicitation for at least 1GW of offshore wind capacity in 2020, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo said in his State of the State Address.

The second solicitation could potentially yield ”substantially more” than 1GW in new capacity, according to the 2020 State of the State.

The second round will be designed to capture the rapidly falling costs of offshore wind energy, the Address stated. No further details were shared.

The announcement builds on New York’s goal to have 9GW of electricity from offshore wind by 2035.

In its first offshore wind solicitation, NYSERDA selected Equinor’s 816MW Empire Wind and the 880MW Sunrise Wind, a project jointly developed by Ørsted and Eversource Energy.

Port Infrastructure Improvements

In early 2020, NYSERDA, Empire State Development (ESD), and New York Department of Transportation (DOT) will also initiate a competitive process to award USD 200 million in public investments to improve the port infrastructure that will be used for the local offshore wind sector.

The agencies conducted a Request for Expressions of Interest process in 2019 which yielded over ten promising proposals, according to the Address.

The awards will be structured to maximize the accompanying private investment and to attract the manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance of offshore wind equipment to New York.