On January 25 New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the Board of Trustees of the Long Island Power Authority had voted to approve the nation's largest offshore wind farm, and the first offshore wind farm in New York.
The approval of the South Fork Wind Farm, a 90 megawatt development 30 miles southeast of Montauk, Long Island, is the first step toward developing an area that can host up to 1,000 megawatts of offshore wind power. The wind farm, which is out of sight from Long Island’s beaches, will help meet increasing electricity demand on the South Fork of Long Island.
Two weeks earlier, the Governor had announced a commitment to develop up to 2.4 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 in his regional State of the State address on Long Island. The 2.4 gigawatt target is the largest commitment to offshore wind energy in U.S. history.
The LIPA Board approved a contract submitted by Deepwater Wind for the South Fork Wind Farm after a year-long process engaging the private sector for the best available clean energy generation ideas and detailed cost modeling. Other elements of LIPA’s South Fork energy portfolio include transmission enhancements and additional clean energy solutions such as battery storage and consumer electricity demand reduction.
The LIPA Board approved a 20-year pay-for-performance Power Purchase Agreement, allowing the utility to only pay for delivered energy without taking construction or operating risk. Advancing technology and innovation reduced the projects all-in wind energy price to be competitive with other renewable energy sources.
In addition to the approval for the South Fork Wind Farm, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is continuing to prepare an Offshore Wind Master Plan, to be released in late 2017, outlining the State’s commitment to developing cost-effective offshore wind resources in federal waters off the coast of New York.