equinor

Empire Wind resumes

June 17, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In April, the Trump Administration issued a stop order for the Empire Wind offshore wind project in New York, pushing the $5 billion project to the brink of collapse. The project is being built by the giant Norwegian energy company Equinor. When completed, the wind farm is expected to deliver enough electricity to power 500,000 New York homes.

Equinor had obtained all the necessary permits for the project after a four-year federal environmental review and work had begun on laying foundations for the wind turbines on the ocean floor.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum claimed that the permits for the project been rushed and ordered the work stopped. The stoppage was costing Equinor $50 million a week as well as jeopardizing an additional 1,000 jobs.

Weeks of intensive interactions between New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Equinor officials, and the White House finally resulted in a decision by the administration to lift the stop work order and allow the project to move forward.

The collapse of the project would have created major problems for New York. The state’s grid operators have been counting on the construction of several new offshore wind farms to provide large additional amounts of electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions. New York has aggressive targets for using renewable energy.

Empire Wind is expected to have 816 megawatts of capacity. Another offshore project in New York, Sunrise Wind, which is under construction 30 miles east of Montauk Point on Long Island, would have 924 megawatts of capacity.

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In Reversal, Trump Officials Will Allow Huge Offshore N.Y. Wind Farm to Proceed

Photo, posted August 9, 2022, courtesy of the Scottish Government via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Empire Wind moves forward

February 13, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Empire Wind 1, the first offshore wind project that will connect to the New York City grid, has received the financing needed to move forward. Equinor, the Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company developing the project, closed on a more than $3 billion financing package.

The wind farm will span 80,000 acres in an area 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island. When completed, it will have a capacity of 810 megawatts. Equinor has executed a Purchase and Sale Agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to purchase power from Empire Wind 1 for 25 years at a strike price of $155/MWh. The operations and maintenance hub for Empire Wind 1 will be at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Commercial operation is expected by 2027.

The previously-planned Empire Wind 2 project was terminated a year ago because of inflation, interest rates, and supply chain disruptions. More broadly, the U.S. offshore wind industry has been struggling for the past year.

With the return of President Donald Trump to the White House, there is much greater uncertainty facing the industry. As a result of the election, Attentive Energy, a planned 3-gigawatt wind project off the coasts of New York and New Jersey has been put on pause. Trump’s public disdain for offshore wind energy is likely to create a major slowdown in the growth of the offshore wind pipeline. On the other hand, the new administration is less likely to have much influence on projects already in progress including 4 gigawatts under active construction and more than 50 gigawatts in other stages of development.

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Empire Wind 1 secures $3B+ financing package, enters ‘full execution mode’

Photo, posted May 2, 2022, courtesy of California Energy Commission via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Sunrise Wind construction begins

August 9, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In mid-July, construction started on New York’s largest offshore wind project. Sunrise Wind is a 924-megawatt offshore wind farm located about 30 miles off the coast of Montauk Point on Long Island. Sunrise Wind is expected to be operating in 2026 and will provide enough clean energy to power nearly 600,000 homes, making it the largest offshore wind farm in the United States.

The ongoing construction project will support more than 800 direct jobs. It will be built under project labor agreements ensuring local union labor’s participation in all phases of construction.

Power from the wind farm will flow through an undersea cable coming ashore deep under the beach at Smith Point County Park. From there, the power will travel primarily under roadways via a transmission line terminating at a power converter station in Holbrook, Suffolk County.

Sunrise Wind is being developed by Oersted, the largest energy company in Denmark and the world’s largest developer of offshore wind power by number of built offshore wind farms.

The second large offshore wind farm in New York, Empire Wind I, is being developed by Equinor. These large wind farms are the result of New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation. The two projects, totaling over 1,700 megawatts, will be the largest power generation projects in New York State in more than 35 years once they enter operation in 2026.

New York has also launched a fifth offshore wind solicitation for which final proposals will be due in September. Offshore wind is a major component of New York’s effort to expand the use of clean energy, grow its green economy, and combat climate change.

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Construction begins on Sunrise Wind, New York’s largest offshore wind project

Photo, posted June 14, 2022, courtesy of Stephen Boutwell/BOEM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Progress on offshore wind in New York

April 1, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

New York has now conditionally awarded two offshore wind projects that will move towards operation in 2026. The projects, totaling more than 1,700 megawatts of power, will be the largest power generation projects in New York state in more than 35 years. It is an important milestone toward achieving the state’s goal of developing 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035.

Empire Wind I, located 15 miles southeast of Long Island, and Sunrise Wind, located more than 30 miles east of the eastern point of Long Island, have already completed most federal and state permitting requirements. Empire Wind I received final approval of their Construction and Operation Plan from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in late February.

Both projects are expected to ramp up construction activity this year. Previous awards by NYSERDA for the projects in 2019 included contract provisions for specific economic benefits to New York communities and commitments for purchasing iron and steel from American sources. Empire Wind I is being developed by Equinor, an international energy company headquartered in Norway. Sunrise Wind, originally a joint project by Ørsted and Eversource, is now solely being developed by Ørsted, a global energy company based in Denmark.

Following successful execution of the contracts for the two projects, NYSERDA payments under these awards will only begin once the projects have obtained all required permits and approvals, the construction has been completed, and the projects begin delivering clean energy to New York.

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New York selects Empire Wind I and Sunrise Wind offshore projects

Photo, posted June 14, 2022, courtesy of Lissa Eng / BOEM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Carbon Capture: Solution Or Band-Aid? | Earth Wise

July 13, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The idea of capturing the CO2 emissions from industry and locking them up is nothing new. It’s been going on for decades in some places. Norway’s state-owned oil company Equinor has been holing away a million tons of CO2 a year for a long time. But overall, CCS – carbon capture and storage – has had very limited use. As of last year, there were only about 30 large-scale projects in operation around the world, capturing only 0.1% of global emissions.

There is now growing interest in CCS and many new projects are underway. A combination of rising carbon prices in Europe, tax breaks for CCS in the US, national net-zero targets, and the increasing need to ramp down global emissions are all driving rising CCS activities.

While recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change still claim that it is possible to remain below 2 degrees Celsius of warming without using carbon capture, there is growing belief that it may be necessary given the present pace of the transition away from fossil fuels.

Two industries that together produce about 14% of global CO2 emissions are cement and steel. These are both industries for which it is difficult to eliminate emissions regardless of the energy sources used. CCS may be the best approach to reducing their emissions.

But there is considerable pushback against CCS. The concern is that CCS is primarily a way to delay decarbonization. It encourages various industries to continue to use fossil fuels instead of shifting away from them. Nonetheless, CCS no doubt has its place as part of the solution to climate change.

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Solution or Band-Aid? Carbon Capture Projects Are Moving Ahead

Photo, posted June 5, 2022, courtesy of Mark Dixon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Offshore Wind For New York | Earth Wise

February 10, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In mid-January, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority announced that it had finalized contracts with BP and Equinor for the Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind offshore wind farms.

The agreements brought to fruition contracts that were awarded in January of 2021 and represent one of the largest clean energy procurements ever in the United States.

Under the finalized contracts, Equinor and BP will provide 1,260 megawatts of offshore wind power from Empire Wind 2 and another 1,230 megawatts from Beacon Wind 1. Once completed, Empire Wind 1, Empire Wind 2, and Beacon Wind 1 will produce enough electricity to power about 2 million New York homes.

As part of the project, there will be substantial investments in New York infrastructure. The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal will be transformed into a major staging and assembly facility for the offshore wind industry and will be an operations and maintenance base for the project. (The project will also invest in the Port of Albany, making it America’s first offshore wind tower and transition piece manufacturing facility).

Empire Wind is located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island and spans an area of 80,000 acres. Its two phases will eventually have an installed capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts.

Beacon Wind is located more than 60 miles east of Montauk Point and 20 miles south of Nantucket. It covers an area of 128,000 acres. Its two phases will ultimately also have a total capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts.

The wind farms will help generate more than a billion dollars in economic output to New York State. Empire Wind 1 is expected to begin commercial operation in 2026 and the other wind farms over the following couple of years.

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New York State just sealed a deal for 2.5 GW of offshore wind

Photo, posted March 24, 2016, courtesy of Andy Dingley via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

New York Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

February 18, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Norwegian energy company Equinor and its strategic partner bp have been selected by New York State to build several offshore wind power installations that will be one of the largest renewable energy projects in the United States to date. When completed, the projects will provide 1,260 megawatts of offshore wind power from Empire Wind 2 and another 1,230 megawatts from Beacon Wind 1 and these will be added to the 816-megawatt project already awarded to the companies for Empire Wind 1.

The two phases of Empire Wind are located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island and span 80,000 acres. Beacon Wind is located 60 miles east of Montauk Point and 20 miles south of Nantucket and covers 128,000 acres. The overall development will provide 3.3 gigawatts of homegrown, renewable electricity to New York.

The projects will comprise up to $8.9 billion in investments including $664 million provided by the state. As part of the award from NYSERDA, the companies will partner with the State to transform two New York ports – the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal and the Port of Albany – into large-scale offshore wind working industrial facilities that position New York to become an offshore wind industry hub.

In Albany, Equinor will join forces with wind industry companies Marmen and Welcon to help the port become America’s first offshore wind tower and transition piece manufacturing facility, where it will produce components for Equinor’s projects.

New York’s goal is to have 9 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2035. The Equinor projects will contribute more than one-third of that goal.

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New York Selects Equinor for Largest US Offshore Wind Award

Photo, posted March 24, 2016, courtesy of TEIA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Plan For New England Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

January 17, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Last December, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management auctioned off lease rights for developing offshore wind in the New England Wind Energy Area. The auction brought in hundreds of millions of dollars.

Recently, the five New England offshore wind leaseholders – Equinor, Mayflower Wind, Ørsted, Eversource, and Vineyard Wind – jointly submitted a uniform turbine layout proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The five developers joined forces to respond to feedback from key stakeholders in the region including the fisheries industry, the Coast Guard, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and coastal communities.

The proposed layout specifies that wind turbines will be spaced one nautical mile apart, arranged in east-west rows an north-south columns, and the rows and columns will be continuous across all New England lease area. Independent expert analysis confirmed that this uniform layout would provide for robust navigational safety and search-and-rescue capability by providing hundreds of transit corridors to accommodate the region’s vessel traffic.

Vessels up to 400 feet in length can safely operate within the proposed turbine layout and will allow the region’s many fishing vessels to follow a wide range of transit paths as they come from many different ports and head to a variety of fishing grounds.

The New England Wind Energy Area is expected to be able to provide as much as 8 GW of electricity generation for the states in the region. Getting approval for this planned layout is one of multiple steps required before the offshore wind complex becomes a reality. Overall, states along the U.S. East Coast are seeking to procure more than 19,300 MW of offshore wind capacity through 2035

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New England offshore wind developers submit uniform layout proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

New York Offshore Wind

September 18, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

New York has passed ambitious legislation to reduce the carbon emissions that cause climate change, but the state needs to start taking action to make those reductions possible. One such action it has taken is an agreement that will enable the construction of two large offshore wind projects.

The projects are to be built off the coast of Long Island. One will be 14 miles south of Jones Beach and the other 30 miles north of Montauk. The wind farms will be built by a division of Equinor, a major Danish energy company, and a joint venture between Orsted, another Danish company, and Eversource Energy, an American firm.

The two New York wind farms are expected to be operational within the next five years and have the capacity to produce 1,700 megawatts of electricity. That is about 20% of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s overall goal for offshore wind.

Wind farms are a major energy source in the United States, now providing about 7% of the country’s electricity. That compares with only 2% in 2010. But nearly all American wind turbines are on land. There is only one small offshore wind farm in the US off the coast of Rhode Island. Things are very different in Europe. For example, Britain expects to get 10% of its electricity from offshore wind next year, which is up from less than 1% in 2010.

Developers of offshore wind farms have struggled to gain a foothold in the US. Some projects have foundered because of cost issues, but others have faced opposition from politicians and coastal-property owners. But assuming the New York wind projects clear permitting and environmental hurdles, offshore wind may finally be on the move in the US.

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New York Awards Offshore Wind Contracts in Bid to Reduce Emissions

Photo, posted May 22, 2007, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.