New York Launches Up To 2,500MW Offshore Wind Solicitation

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday announced offshore wind solicitation aimed at developing up to 2,500 Megawatts of renewable energy and complementary multi-port infrastructure investment.

The solicitation includes a multi-port strategy and requirement for offshore wind generators to partner with any of the 11 prequalified New York ports to stage, construct, manufacture key components, or coordinate operations and maintenance activities.

"New York's second offshore wind solicitation seeks up to 2,500 megawatts of projects, the largest in the nation's history, in addition to last year's solicitation which resulted in nearly 1,700 megawatts awarded,” the statement by the governor’s office reads.

According to the governor, the solicitation has the potential to bring New York State halfway toward its goal of 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Funding for port investments will include $400 million in both public and private funding.

"During one of the most challenging years New York has ever faced, we remain laser-focused on implementing our nation-leading climate plan and growing our clean energy economy, not only to bring significant economic benefits and jobs to the state, but to quickly attack climate change at its source by reducing our emissions." Governor Cuomo said.

"With these record-breaking solicitations for renewable energy and new port infrastructure, New York continues to lead the way with the most ambitious Green New Deal in the nation, creating a future fueled by clean, renewable energy sources," he said.

The combined offshore wind and port solicitation marks an important next step in New York's offshore wind program to build on the state's first two offshore wind projects - Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind - which represent the single largest renewable energy procurement in U.S. history, at nearly 1,700 megawatts, and will create enough energy to power over 1 million homes, the governor's office said.

The solicitation will accept bids that combine offshore wind generation projects with investments in New York ports "to holistically support the state's burgeoning offshore wind industry through an innovative public/private partnership."

In seeking at least 1,000 megawatts of offshore wind, coordinated with a $200 million opportunity to support local and private investment in port infrastructure, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will accept offshore wind bids between 400 megawatts and up to 2,500 megawatts.

Bids for this combined offshore wind and ports solicitation are due October 20, 2020, and awards and contracts are expected to be executed Q4 of 2020, respectively.

Notable provisions in this comprehensive solicitation include:

• Provisions requiring payment of the prevailing wage, a standard set by the New York State Department of Labor, and good-faith negotiations towards the use of Project Labor Agreements for workers associated with the construction of any awarded facility and continuing to prioritize opportunities for New York State Minority- and Woman-Owned Business Enterprises and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses to support these projects;
• Incentivizing associated jobs, project spending, and infrastructure investments in New York State by requiring awardees to provide an economic benefits plan for evaluation, backed by independent audit and verification of the realization of these claims;
• Prioritizing low-income census tracts and Environmental Justice Areas to contribute to delivering the overall job creation and benefits to Disadvantaged Communities, consistent with the State's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act;
• Sending a clear buy-clean demand signal to the market to encourage the consideration of the project's carbon footprint in design, sourcing and construction and spur use of advanced materials; and
• Actively addressing the interests of ocean users such as commercial and recreational fishing and environmental stakeholders as reflected in mitigation plans which are informed by New York's Offshore Wind Technical Working Groups as established by New York's Offshore Wind Master Plan.

According to World Energy Reports' Offshore Wind Outlook, while the U.S. is an emerging offshore wind farm market with no utility-scale offshore wind farms in operation, it has the potential to be a Top 5 player soon, with estimates of investment requirement of at least $57bn to install up to 30GW by 2030 along the Atlantic Coast. 

WorldEnergyReports has identified a project pipeline of over 33GW which extends beyond 2030 installation that requires at least $63bn of CAPEX.

Watch the recording of World Energy Report's Offshore Wind Webinar "Outlook for Offshore Wind Power: The Frontier of Future Energy"