New York Bidders File Final Proposals, RWE Plans 2.8 GW Offshore Wind Farm

October 21, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

The developers who entered their projects in New York’s fifth solicitation for offshore wind energy have submitted finalised proposals, with RWE and National Grid Ventures’ Community Wind offshore wind farm now proposed to have a generation capacity of up to 2.8 GW and to be built in two phases by 2032.

In September, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) said it received a total of 25 proposals from four developers in its latest offshore wind solicitation. These include the three projects that were rebid after being cancelled by NYSERDA earlier this year and a new project from Ørsted.

Ørsted, which operates New York’s first offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind (132 MW), and is currently building Sunrise Wind (924 MW), the state’s second offshore wind farm, has now filed a proposal for Long Island Wind. The new offshore wind farm is planned to have a generation capacity of up to 1,485 MW.

The three projects that re-entered the procedure are Community Offshore Wind by RWE and National Grid Ventures (NGV), Excelsior Wind, developed by Vineyard Offshore, and Attentive Energy One, developed by TotalEnergies, Rise Light & Power and Corio Generation.

In the previous solicitation, RWE and NGV entered a 1,314 MW project, a first phase of the Community Offshore Wind development at the lease area that is said to be able to house 3.2 GW of offshore wind capacity.

The Community Offshore Wind project proposed now encompasses two phases with a total capacity of 2.8 GW which are planned to produce first power in 2030 and be fully operational two years later.

According to RWE, this is the largest offshore wind proposal ever submitted in New York.

The Excelsior Wind offshore wind farm, being developed by Vineyard Offshore (Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners), is proposed to have 1,314 MW and Attentive Energy One (AE1), by TotalEnergies, Rise Light & Power and Corio, has been proposed with a nameplate capacity of 1,275 MW.

The finalised proposals now filed with NYSERDA concern offered pricing and, according to the state agency’s schedule for this solicitation, the awarded projects will be announced publicly in the first quarter of 2025.