18 Wind Energy Plans Submitted

On February 14, the deadline for the latest round of proposals, a whopping 18 plans were submitted to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Governor Andrew Cuomo mandated that NYSERDA approve at least four projects this year, with an eye on producing 9000 megawatts of offshore energy for the state by the end of the decade.

Liberty Wind, a venture by Vineyard Wind and Anbaric, turned in perhaps the most specific and ambitious, giving the state options of 400, 800, or 1200-megawatt wind farms initially. The 1.2-gigawatt project — which the company said is the most cost-effective option for New York ratepayers — would be one of the largest offshore wind projects in the world and would make a major contribution to Cuomo’s objective of developing nine gigawatts of offshore wind energy to supply New York.

That proposal is the subject of an accompanying article in this week’s Independent.

Ørsted, which bought a 50 percent stake in Deepwater Wind late last year and sold portion of that stake to Eversource just last week, is already in the process of trying to get approval for its 130-megawatt project to come ashore in Wainscott.

Equinox Wind submitted a sparsely detailed proposal for up to 2000 megawatts. Other proposals came from Atlantic Shores and Offshore Wind. Sunrise Wind, said to be another Ørsted/Eversource project, will be located within 30 or so miles off Montauk Point. Deepwater critics fear the company will turn East Hampton Town into a distribution center, funneling offshore power west.

Liberty Wind promises “substantial economic development and job creation benefits to New York,” because foundational components will be fabricated at a port facility in the Capitol Region and transported down the Hudson River to the project site in the Atlantic Ocean. Liberty Wind’s turbines will be located in federal waters 85 miles away from the nearest New York shore, officials said. It will hook up to “an existing Long Island substation” that has yet to be revealed.

“Our team’s extensive offshore wind experience from around the world and nearby in New England, where we are building the nation’s first utility scale offshore wind project, allows us to deliver the best project for New York,” said Lars Thaaning Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind.

None of the proposals pinpoint exactly how or where the offshore power will make landfall. Two environmentally fragile locations in East Hampton Town are the only locales specifically earmarked to accept the offshore power.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com