New York Advances Offshore Wind With Fourth Round Procurement Awards

­Oceantic Network, the leading organization working to advance offshore wind and other ocean renewable industries and their supply chains,celebrates today’s announcement by New York Governor Hochul that the state has selected two projects to deliver 1700 MW of offshore wind generation in its fourth offshore wind solicitation round. Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 project (810 MW) andEversource and Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind project (924 MW) were awarded contracts. These projects had previously canceled contracts with the state but reached viable power purchase agreements in this latest round.

The two projects will invest $2 billion in economic development across New York and create 800 near-term jobs. They’ll be supported by the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal assembly and staging port, the construction of which is expected to create 400 jobs this year. The project developers also committed to additional investments of $135 million for grid infrastructure on Long Island and $200 million in other transmission related investments. Sunrise Wind is now scheduled for commercial operations in 2026 and Empire Wind in 2027.

The following statement can be attributed to Sam Salustro, vice president of strategic communication at Oceantic Network:

“New York has taken bold action to keep its market moving forward and get projects in the water. These new contracts integrate the knowledge gained over the past several years and exemplify a new phase for the industry defined by a better understanding of project finances. Empire and Sunrise have already sparked new shipbuilding activities in Louisiana and Philadelphia and will go on to support steel fabrication facilities both locally and across the nation. The Network congratulates Governor Hochul and NYSERDA on their successful procurement process and thanks them for their steadfast efforts to ensure offshore wind’s success in New York. We look forward to seeing member companies Equinor, Eversource, and Ørsted develop these projects.”