Statoil has branded its offshore New York wind site, Empire Wind. The 79,350 acre site is off the southern coast of Long Island, New York. The Norwegian operator said that the site has potential to generate up to 1GW of offshore wind power.
“The name Empire Wind captures the pivotal role that this important project will play in helping New York achieve its ambitious renewable energy goal,” said Statoil’s Empire Wind Project Director Christer af Geijerstam. “Empire Wind also speaks to the leading role that New York State is taking in advancing the deployment of offshore wind technology in North America.”
Statoil is in the early stages of developing the offshore wind farm and the project team is currently conducting an extensive evaluation process, gathering detailed information about the seabed conditions, grid connection options and wind resources characteristic to the area.
New York’s Clean Energy Standard mandates an increase in the share of renewables in its energy mix to 50% by 2030. As part of that effort, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently called for the development of up to 2.4GW of offshore wind power by 2030.
Statoil secured the site for Empire Wind in a federal auction in December 2016. Statoil currently has seven offshore wind projects online or under development in Europe, including the world’s first floating offshore wind project in Scotland—a technology which could prove pivotal in generating offshore wind power for the US west coast and Hawaii.