Buffalo, NY: In recognition of the celebration of Earth Day, on April 22 New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Kessel announced a major public-private initiative for the potential development of wind power projects in the New York State waters of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Meanwhile, on the Canadian side of the same lakes, development is expected to quickly pick up speed as well. Ontario’s proposed Feed-In Tariff program is considering paying 19 cents per kWh for offshore wind. As turbines go up, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the bulk of the installations or the best sites will go to Canadian or American developers. Based on the current state of the relative procurement initiatives, it looks like Canadians are taking an early lead. However, the US program is also ambitious.
The first step in New York’s initiative was taken when NYPA issued its RFEI for environmental, economic development, technical, operational, socio-economic, financial, and other information from the wind power industry. This information will assist NYPA in determining the feasibility of beginning the next stage — preparing a wind power development RFP which, if issued, would be expected to result in high-quality proposals for the construction of wind generating projects.
To carry out the US$1 billion initiative, known as the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project, NYPA, with the support of several other organizations, is gathering a wide range of environmental, economic development, technical, financial and other information to serve as the foundation for the possible installation of wind power projects by one or more private wind power developers, sized to a minimum of 120 megawatts.
Governor David A. Paterson said: “We have an opportunity to ensure that New York is the national leader in the growth of the clean energy economy, which will create thousands of jobs across the state. To get there, we must take full advantage of our natural resources, including hydropower, solar, and wind. I have set the goal for New York to meet 45 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy efficiency and renewable sources by 2015. Harnessing the power of wind is critical to achieving that goal and the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project will help us reach it.”
This project is in support of a key recommendation made by Governor David A. Paterson’s Renewable Energy Task Force to commit to realizing the potential of wind energy by addressing local siting and permitting issues, and conducting studies to address transmission and infrastructure limitations.
NYPA intends to hold public and community forums to gather input as the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project initiative proceeds.
In parallel to the RFEI process, NYPA will arrange, through the RFP on technical issues, to have siting studies conducted to ascertain optimum areas for locating Great Lakes Offshore Wind Projects. The studies will review the wind resource, impacts on birds, visibility, vessel traffic, and lake bottom conditions. It is anticipated the results of the studies will be included in the RFP.
It is expected this power will be sold to NYPA and others for resale to upstate customers.
The RFEI can be accessed on the NYPA website at www.nypa.gov/GreatLakesWindRFEI.htm or look for the link on the home page (www.nypa.gov). The deadline for receipt of RFEI proposals was June 15, 2009.