In his January 13, 2021 State of the State address, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that New York will contract with Equinor Wind US LLC (Equinor) for 2,490 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind energy, the largest combined procurement of offshore wind energy by a state in U.S. history. Governor Cuomo also announced plans to make New York State a “global wind energy manufacturing powerhouse” through upgrades to five port facilities, including new investments to establish a wind turbine staging facility and operations and maintenance hub at South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, and a wind tower manufacturing facility at the Port of Albany.

As described in the announcement by NYSERDA, Equinor will develop the Empire Wind 2 Project and the Beacon Wind Project in federal waters to generate the awarded 2,490 MW of offshore wind energy. Empire Wind 2 is a 1,260-megawatt project located more than 20 miles off the coast of Jones Beach, Long Island. Transmission lines for the project will connect to the local electric grid in Oceanside, New York. Beacon Wind is a 1,230-megawatt project located approximately 60 miles from Montauk Point; the Beacon Wind will interconnect with the grid in Astoria, Queens.

In addition to delivering 2,490 MW of clean energy to New York, which is enough to power 1.3 million homes, the Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind projects will support $8.9 billion in economic activity, more than 5,200 jobs, and $47 million in workforce development and just access funding.

In 2019, Equinor secured a contract with New York State to develop the Empire Wind 1 Project, an 816-megawatt project located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island in the New York Bight. With Governor Cuomo’s announcement this week, Equinor will be responsible for providing over 3,300 MW of renewable energy to New York State, and now has more contracted power capacity than any other developer in the United States offshore wind market.  The 3,300 MW that Equinor will generate will advance New York State’s mandate to reach 70% renewable energy by 2030 and will deliver significant economic benefits to disadvantaged communities.

SPR is proud to be part of the team representing Equinor on the permitting and development of the Empire Wind 1, Empire Wind 2, and Beacon Wind offshore wind projects.