New York Offshore Wind Alliance Boosts Its Membership

New York State Building & Construction Trades Council has joined the New York Offshore Wind Alliance (NYOWA) in support of the effort to make New York the national leader in offshore wind.

The New York State Building & Construction Trades Council comprises 16 local building trade councils, 12 district councils and state associations, and 135 local unions.

According to Jim Cahill, President of the Council, offshore wind development will be good for Long Island and the whole state regarding new union jobs and new clean energy economy that will benefit everyone.

“Our members have the experience, training, and expertise necessary to complete large, complex projects like this on time and on budget. The New York State Building & Construction Trades Council commends Governor Cuomo’s pro-growth agenda overall and in particular his commitment to offshore wind and renewable energy,” Cahill said.

NYOWA is a coalition of more than two dozen organizations with a shared interest in promoting the development of offshore wind in New York, and has a particular focus on Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s goal of creating up to 2.4GW of offshore wind by 2030.

In his 2017 State of the State speech, Cuomo directed the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop an Offshore Wind Master Plan to advance projects that could power more than 1.25 million homes on Long Island and New York City.

NYSERDA is expected to release a procurement plan that outlines options for purchasing offshore wind energy and complete the Master Plan by the end of this year.

This Offshore Wind Master Plan, as the council says, should create a roadmap for how New York can take advantage of the strong winds far off the coast of Long Island and at the same time protect coastal and marine wildlife and preserve existing offshore industries and activities.

“We are eager to see NYSERDA’s Master Plan and to also to learn from the Governor in his State of the State address how New York will continue to be a national leader on offshore wind – both the renewable energy it provides and the jobs it will create,” said Joe Martens, Director of the NYOWA and a former Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Last December, Statoil won the New York offshore wind lease sale, agreeing to pay USD 42.5 million for rights to build an offshore wind farm at the 79,350-acre area which could potentially accommodate up to 1GW of offshore wind.

The Norwegian company is reportedly in talks to sign a power purchase agreement with a U.S. utility by the end of 2018 for an offshore wind project off New York.

At the beginning of 2017, US offshore wind developer Deepwater Wind received a unanimous approval from the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) for the 90MW Deepwater ONE South Fork wind farm located some 30 miles southeast of Montauk.