New York has selected three offshore wind farms to negotiate power contracts with the state as the industry faces increasing challenges from rising costs.
The contracts are part of a sweeping set of awards that also include 22 onshore renewable energy projects and will lead to the installation of as much as 6.4 gigawatts of clean energy, according to a statement Tuesday.
That’s expected to be enough to power 2.6 million homes.
New York has some of the most ambitious climate goals in the US, and the latest measures are an important step in the state’s plan to get 70% of its power from renewable sources by 2030. However, the state is facing hurdles after costs for installing wind turbines at sea surged by 48%, likely threatening some existing contracts.
New York is aiming to have 9 gigawatts of offshore wind power in service by 2035. The projects announced Tuesday — which are south of Long Island — are:
- Attentive Energy One, developed by TotalEnergies SE, Rise Light & Power and Corio Generation, with 1.4 gigawatts of capacity
- Community Offshore Wind, developed by units of National Grid Plc and RWE AG, with 1.3 gigawatts of capacity
- Excelsior Wind, developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, with 1.3 gigawatts of capacity
They’re all expected to go into service by 2030. The projects have an average weighted strike price — the all-in cost per megawatt hour to develop an offshore wind farm — of $145.07.
That’s about 28% higher than the average strike price for the state’s two prior offshore wind solicitations. However, developers that won contracts in the second round have been struggling as costs climbed, and in June asked regulators to approve higher prices. A spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul said the strike price in this round is about 13% lower than the increased figure those companies had requested, and which regulators rejected earlier this month.
President Joe Biden has set a goal of having 30 gigawatts of US offshore wind in service by 2030. That target is increasingly seen as under threat but the New York wind farms approved in this round would help by delivering about 4 gigawatts of combined capacity.
The state will also provide $300 million to help build two factories that will supply blades and nacelles for offshore wind turbines. That’s expected to be matched by an additional $668 million of private investment.
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