At an event with US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and US Representative Paul Tonko, Equinor and bp announced the finalization of the Purchase and Sale Agreements (PSAs) with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), for Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1, the companies said.
The PSAs set the terms under which these projects will supply homegrown, renewable power to New York and inject significant economic investments into the state's economy.
The finalization of the PSAs concludes the contracts awarded in January 2021, when Equinor and bp were selected to provide New York State with offshore wind power in one of the largest renewable energy procurements in the US to date.
Once completed, Equinor and bp's portfolio of active offshore wind projects (Empire Wind 1, Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1) will produce enough electricity to power about 2 million New York homes, and will help generate more than USD 1 billion in economic output to New York State.
The PSAs agreed to with New York State finalizes the terms under which Equinor and bp will provide generation capacity of 1,260 megawatts (MW) of renewable offshore wind power from Empire Wind 2, and another 1,230 MW of power from Beacon Wind 1, while making substantial investments in New York's infrastructure.
Empire Wind is located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island and spans 80,000 acres, with water depths of between 65 and 131 feet. The lease was acquired in 2017 and is being developed in two phases (Empire Wind 1 and 2) with a total installed capacity of more than 2 GW (816 + 1,260 MW).
Beacon Wind is located more than 60 miles east of Montauk Point and 20 miles south of Nantucket and covers 128,000 acres. The lease was acquired in 2019 and has the potential to be developed with a total capacity of more than 2 GW. This first phase will have an installed capacity of 1,230 MW.
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