Equinor ASA’s (NYSE:EQNR) Empire Wind Phase 2 and the Beacon Wind projects totalling close to 2.5 GW are the winners in New York’s latest offshore wind procurement round.

The execution of the award is subject to negotiating a power purchase agreement (PPA), Equinor said on Wednesday. The capacity will be installed by a tie-up with US oil and gas major BP Plc (LON:BP) after the Norwegian energy group agreed in September 2020 to sell a 50% stake in the development portfolio to BP. The deal is seen to be completed early this year.

The Empire Wind 2 will add 1,260 MW of offshore wind capacity. It will be installed 15-30 miles (24km-48km) southeast of Long Island, within a 80,000-acre lease area that Equinor secured in 2017. The Beacon Wind 1, meanwhile, will be located within the Beacon Wind lease area east of Montauk Point and south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, that covers 128,000 acres and can accommodate over 2,400 GW of turbines. Beacon Wind 1 will have a capacity of 1,230 MW.

The two proposals include plans for manufacturing offshore wind components locally at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) and the Port of Albany. SBMT will be used for staging and assembly activities and as an operations and maintenance (O&M) base. The Port of Albany will host a new factory for offshore wind tower and transition pieces.

Equinor is currently developing the 816-MW Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project, which was selected in New York’s maiden offshore wind tender in 2019.

source:renewablesnow.com