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The maritime executive
2019-07-19 22:40:30
On Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo officially signed the largest offshore wind energy supply contract in US history, signing 1,700 megawatt contracts at two sites of the project. This is the largest purchase of renewable energy ever made by a US state government.
"Offshore is no longer a science fiction idea. [Its] the time has come. The cost has dropped dramatically and we are the main US state to do it, without talking about it, but by doing it, "Cuomo said in an interview Friday. Let's be the first state to go to the new [green] economy because. . . there is money to be made there ".
The first project is Sunrise Wind, an offshore rental site located 30 miles east of Montauk. It will be developed by the Danish wind energy giant Ørsted in partnership with the New England energy company, Eversource, and will supply 880 megawatts to the Long Island power grid. As part of this agreement, Sunrise Wind will build an operations and maintenance center in Port Jefferson (Long Island), investing in upgrading port infrastructure and setting up offshore wind training programs. Subject to the partners' final investment decision, the wind farm should be operational by 2024.
Sunrise Wind is adjacent to Orsted's South Fork and Revolution Wind projects, allowing for multi-site synergies during construction and operation. South Fork is New York 's first offshore wind farm and Ørsted expects it to be commissioned by 2022.
The second project is Empire Wind, a site located 14 miles southeast of Manhattan. It will be developed by Norway's largest oil group Equinor and will supply more than 800 megawatts to New York City. The project is expected to be developed with 60 to 80 turbines, with an installed capacity of more than 10 megawatts each. Total investments will rise to approximately $ 3 billion and the expected start date is the end of 2024.
Together, the two projects will provide 10% of the state's energy, create more than 1,600 jobs and generate $ 3.2 billion in economic activity, according to the governor's office. Both contracts represent the state's first step towards an offshore wind capacity of 9,000 gigawatts.
At a ceremony marking this event, the governor also signed the New York State Leadership and Climate Protection Act, which states that 70% of the city 's electricity goes into electricity. New York State must come from renewable energies by 2030 and 100% by 2040. Mr. Cuomo also used his speech to reprimand. the Trump administration for its decision not to incorporate the views of the scientific community on climate change in federal politics.
The financial terms of the contracts – including levels of government subsidy – were not disclosed at the time of the announcement.
Vineyard Wind Strikes Federal License Difficulties
Developers of the impressive development of Vineyard Wind off Martha's Vineyard said that they had informed the Office of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) that the project would make face challenges if its environmental impact study process was not completed soon. Wind Vineyard said the problem had also been brought to the attention of Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, who held final control of the BOEM review process.
The agency's decision was expected by July 12, but the ministry informed Vineyard Wind that she was "not yet ready" to issue a license. A spokesman noted that the two-year review window of the BOEM still left a lot of time.
"We note that it is not unusual for an EIA to be reviewed on an ongoing basis as it progresses in the internal approval process, particularly for an internal audit." project of this magnitude, "Vineyard Wind said in a statement. We believe that BOEM has taken into account all the best information available, which, in our opinion, has badured us that all remaining evaluations can be closed and that an EIS will be published shortly thereafter. "
Mbadachusetts Governor Charlie Baker told the media that the BOEM's delay was due to specific technical problems, and not to any opposition to wind energy in general. "They have given Vineyard Wind and us a lot of guidance regarding where we should be focusing and people are going to focus on these by the end of the month."
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