The U.S. Division of the Inside on Thursday accredited the Empire Wind offshore undertaking, owned by Equinor and BP, the sixth commercial-scale wind farm to be greenlit underneath President Joe Biden’s administration.
Empire Wind is amongst a number of offshore wind initiatives going through building and financing price blowouts that the troubled trade says wouldn’t be coated by current energy gross sales contracts, but it surely might be helped by a brand new public sale deliberate by New York state.
Together with Danish counterpart Orsted, Equinor and BP have taken a mixed $5 billion of writedowns on U.S. offshore wind initiatives that aren’t even accomplished.
The Inside Division mentioned its approval of Empire Wind brings the nation nearer to its aim of deploying 30,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind alongside U.S. coastlines by 2030.
New York state, for its half, additionally goals to develop 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035.
Empire Wind will embrace two offshore wind farms, 816-MW Empire Wind 1 and 1,260-MW Empire Wind 2, positioned about 12 nautical miles (nm) south of Lengthy Island, and about 17 nm east of Lengthy Department, New Jersey.
Collectively, its 147 generators can be able to producing renewable energy for greater than 700,000 properties annually, the Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration estimated.
Empire Wind 1 was anticipated to start out manufacturing in 2026 and Empire Wind 2 a yr later, based on the New York State Vitality Analysis and Growth Authority.
Equinor and BP have booked $300 million and $540 million in impairments respectively on their initiatives off New York, after the state’s regulator rejected their request to renegotiate energy provide phrases.
On Nov. 30, New York will situation a brand new offshore wind solicitation open to all bidders, together with these with current contracts, permitting the businesses to re-offer their deliberate initiatives at greater costs and exit their outdated contracts.
(Reuters – Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese and Deep Vakil; Enhancing by Sonali Paul)
