The Biden-Harris administration has approved the 2.1-GW Empire Wind offshore wind project in New York after a recent setback related to the pricing of its PPA.
A positive Record of Decision for the scheme was issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday and will be published in the Federal Register in the coming days. It contains certain mitigation measures offered by Empire Wind that will compensate for any losses directly arising from the project, such as the establishment of fishery mitigation funds.
Empire Wind is a combination of two offshore projects – Empire Wind 1 and 2, which are being developed by a partnership between Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) and BP Plc (LON:BP). To be installed in a federal lease area about 12 nautical miles south of Long Island, the complex will be made of 147 turbines and will be providing power to the state of New York through a connection to the grid in Brooklyn and Long Beach. The 57-turbine Empire Wind 1 and 90-turbine Empire Wind 2 will be electrically isolated and independent from each other.
The two wind farms should be capable of producing power for more than 700,000 homes annually, once in operation.
Last month, the New York Public Services Commission’s (PSC) rejected the Empire Wind’s developers request to renegotiate the power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the project, along with contracts for two other schemes.
Empire Wind is the sixth commercial-scale offshore wind project that secures approval for development in US federal waters. The environmental review of the scheme was completed in September.
