Announcements

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) finalized contracts with Equinor Wind US LLC for its 816 megawatt Empire Wind Project and Sunrise Wind LLC (a joint venture of Ørsted A/S and Eversource Energy) for its 880 megawatt Sunrise Wind Project. Concurrently, NYSERDA submitted a report to New York State Department of Public Service detailing the success of the first large-scale offshore wind solicitation for New York. The report highlights the unprecedented level of competition, the cost effectiveness of projects, an innovative contracting structure, the inclusion of environmental, fishing and ocean use priorities, and the health impact benefits among other topics. Learn more

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has selected five multi-year projects totaling more than $2 million dollars to study important environmental and commercial fishing topics related to offshore wind energy development. Topics include developing solutions to ensure access to fishing grounds, the inclusion of fishermen’s knowledge in decision-making, understanding linkages between forage fish and marine predator behavior and distributions, modeling oceanographic dynamics in the New York Bight, and developing guidelines for nanotag transmitters to monitor birds and bats in relation to offshore wind energy development. These projects will help advance New York’s ambitious renewable energy goals. Learn more

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo executed the nation's largest offshore wind agreement and the single largest renewable energy procurement by any state in U.S. history - nearly 1,700 megawatts -with the selection of two offshore wind projects, Empire Wind (Equinor US Holdings) and Sunrise Wind (Bay State Wind LLC). Governor Cuomo also signed the Climate Leadership Community Protection Act (CLCPA), clean energy legislation that requires carbon free electricity by 2040 and an 85% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2050, in an effort to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. Learn more

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) on July 1 issued a draft request for proposals (RFP) to procure up to 2 GW of offshore wind capacity. For more details see the CT DEEP procurement website.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) sought input on the Proposed Path Forward for Future Offshore Renewable Energy Leasing on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf through a Request for Feedback (RFF) that published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2018. Comments and feedback on the proposed path forward can be found on regulations.gov.

The Massachusetts Electric Distribution companies, in coordination with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, are issuing an RFP for Long-term Contracts for Offshore Wind Energy Projects pursuant to Section 83C of Chapter 169 of the Acts of 2008, as amended by chapter 188 of the Acts of 2016, An Act to Promote Energy Diversity. Learn more

Vineyard Wind announced that it is seeking proposals from universities, technology companies and other innovators for implementation of advanced Passive Acoustic Monitoring Systems (PAMS) to be deployed alongside transit routes to the offshore wind area located off the coast of Massachusetts.

Learn more

The Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Conservation Law Foundation signed an agreement to help protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. The agreement for Vineyard’s 84-turbine project off of Massachusetts ensures that turbine construction will be curtailed in the winter and early spring, when right whales may be in the area and that the presence of whales near the site will be closely monitored and construction noise will be limited.

Learn more