Wind Development Offshore on Long Island

 

December held much promise for offshore wind development off the shore of Long Island. The Norwegian energy company Statoil Wind US LLC successfully out-bid the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA) in a federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) auction for a 79,000+-acre undersea parcel off the Rockaways. The final bid of $42.4 million was the largest bid ever made ina BOEM auction. Statoil won the bid in the same week that it divested from all tar sands holdings in Alberta, Canada. Statoil believes the leased area could potentially accommodate more than 1 Gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind power, and expects phased development to begin with 400 Megawatts (MW) to 600 MW. While the lease term is for 25 years to develop the Rockaway wind turbines, it is hoped that Statoil will quickly develop the project to provide renewable electricity to New York City and Long Island.

 

Statoil has a history of offshore wind development and ownership in Europe. It was the operator in the development phase of 88 wind turbines off Norfolk, England, in 2012. It is also a partner in several other wind turbine farms off the coast of the United Kingdom. Statoil recently announced that it intends to construct the first-ever 30 MW floating wind farm off Aberdeen, Scotland. Statoil developed these floating wind turbines over the past six years in Norway. At present, Europe has some 10 GW of operational offshore wind power.

 

On December 20, 2016, the Sierra Club, in conjunction with many labor and environmental partners, held a rally at the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) to encourage the agency and Governor Cuomo to move forward with offshore wind. The Sierra Club and its Beyond Coal Campaign are hoping that LIPA approves New York’s first — and the nation’s largest — offshore wind farm in January, which would be a 90MW facility southeast of Montauk Point, Long Island.

 

Senators Phil Boyle and Todd Kaminsky, Assemblyman Steven Englebright and East Hampton Supervisor Larry Cantwell spoke at the rally. Other speakers included union leaders from the Nassau and Suffolk Building Trades Council, the Long Island Federation of Labor, Ironworkers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Dockbuilders, Painters, etc.

 

Environmental groups at the rally included Sierra Club, SANE Energy, Mothers Out Front, All Our Energy, Renewable Energy Long Island, Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment, 350.org, Food & Water Watch, United for Action, the National Wildlife Federation, Environment New York and the New York Offshore Wind Alliance. Polls show that 85% of Long Island residents support offshore wind. We encourage our members to become involved in supporting these projects.

 

At his January 10th regional State of the State address in Uniondale on Long Island, Governor Cuomo announced that New York State is committed to building 2400 Megawatts (MW) of offshore wind projects by 2030. This amount of electricity is enough to power 1.25 million homes. The Governor also pledged his support for the 90 MW South Fork Wind Farm off Montauk Point, Long Island currently being considered by LIPA. The announcement was immediately applauded by the Sierra Club, NRDC, Renewable Energy Long Island, the National Wildlife Federation, SANE Energy Project, and many other environmental and community groups and unions.