Provisional contracts for three New York Bight wind projects were cancelled, after “technical and commercial complexities” made it impossible for developers to move forward, New York State energy planners announced Friday.
The projects were provisionally awarded in October 2023 with New York’s third round of renewable energy solicitation. The cancellations are tied to General Electric’s decision not to proceed with building 18-megawatt turbines, meaning costs would go up using more, smaller machines, Politico and E&E News reported.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority said it had to close out the offshore third round without final contract awards. GE’s move to stick with smaller turbines was a key factor, according to NYSERDA.
“Subsequent to the provisional award announcement, material modifications to projects bid into New York’s third offshore wind solicitation caused technical and commercial complexities between provisional awardees and their partners, resulting in the provisionally awarded parties’ inability to come to terms,” according to an agency statement.
With a total maximum nameplate rating of 4 gigawatts, the projects would be a huge step toward New York’s renewable energy goals, including:
- Attentive Energy One planned by TotalEnergies, Rise Light & Power and Corio Generation.
- Community Offshore Wind by RWE Offshore Renewables and National Grid Ventures.
- Excelsior Wind that would be built developed by Vineyard Offshore of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, now building the Vineyard Wind array off southern New England.
While the cancellations are a setback, New York officials are preparing a fourth round of renewable energy solicitations. Escalating costs and interest rates upended offshore wind power plans in 2023.
New York public utilities regulators balked at wind developers’ request for new rate increases. After refusing to renegotiate contracts in October, state officials said Feb. 29 they had reached new deals with developers for the Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind projects south of Long Island.
New York’s withdrawal raises questions about the viability of leases farther offshore in the New York Bight. Losing GE’s 18 MW Haliade-X turbines would require using more, smaller machines to generate power from offshore arrays, raising development costs, Politico reported.
Meanwhile the cancellations were a good-news surprise for East Coast scallop fishermen, according to Saving Seafood, an industry advocacy group.
“The Attentive Energy One lease is in the New York Bight scallop access area, which is an important scallop ground,” the group said in a statement late Friday. The Community Offshore Wind project has some scallop habitat and is near other productive fioshing areas.
