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2018 Solicitation (Closed)

Under the New York State Public Service Commission's July 2018 Order Adopting the Offshore Wind Standard [PDF], which set the framework for the first phase of solicitations, NYSERDA selected and contracted with two offshore wind project proposals, totaling nearly 1,700 megawatts.

For more information on the awarded projects – Empire Wind (816 megawatts) and Sunrise Wind (880 megawatts) – see our New York’s Offshore Wind Projects webpage.

Contract Execution and Phase One Report

In October 2019, NYSERDA finalized contracts for these first two offshore wind projects. Concurrently, NYSERDA submitted a comprehensive filing to the New York State Department of Public Service (DPS) “Launching New York’s Offshore Wind Industry: Phase 1 Report” (Report). The Report documents the successful results of New York’s first large-scale offshore wind solicitation with a combined total capacity of nearly 1,700 megawatts and provides important details about these, the highest scoring projects. These publications are a significant milestone in the State's commitment to transparency as it delivers the promise of a clean electricity future.

The Report is an analysis of the solicitation process and includes details of the executed contracts, including:

  • Unprecedented competition: New York’s first procurement garnered the most competitive market response to date among all U.S. state offshore wind solicitations and demonstrates New York’s unparalleled reach to existing lease areas spanning New England to New Jersey and that New York State’s procurement mechanism for Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificates (ORECs) is widely seen as attractive to private developers in the U.S. offshore wind market.
  • Cost-effectiveness: The Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind projects have an average all-in development cost of $83.36 per megawatt hour (2018 dollars) with an expected average OREC cost of $25.14 per megawatt hour. The average bill impact for residential customers will be less than a dollar per month per customer – approximately $0.73. These prices are approximately 40 percent less than projected by NYSERDA’s 2018 analysis, signaling that offshore wind is an increasingly competitively priced renewable energy resource.
  • Innovation Contracting Structure: The contracts utilize an innovative Index OREC contracting structure where payments rise and fall inversely to a composite average of New York’s energy and capacity market prices, which do not reflect actual project revenues but do provide protection for ratepayers and projects against volatility in utility bills and project revenue, respectively.
  • Environmental, Fishing and Ocean Use Priorities: These projects demonstrate a strong commitment through the inclusion of mitigation plans that actively address the interests of ocean users such as commercial and recreational fishing and environmental stakeholders and ensure that coastal communities will be fully engaged and informed during the development and construction process.
  • Protecting New York Families: These projects will provide approximately $700 million of avoided health impact benefits in the form of avoided hospitalization and premature death associated with asthma and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, demonstrating tremendous economic and societal value for New York families.

Closed Solicitation, ORECRFP18-1

Schedule

Date Event
November 8, 2018 RFP Release Date
February 14, 2019 Deadline for Submission of Proposals
Spring 2019 Awardees Notified
Summer 2019 Contracts Awarded
Fall 2019 Contracts Finalized and Phase 1 Report filed with the New York State Public Service Commission

ORECRFP18-1 and Appendices

Eligibility Requirements

The Offshore Wind Standard Order limited project eligibility to projects that generate electricity from offshore wind that:

  • Are located off the coast of the United States
  • Become operational on or after January 1, 2015
  • Deliver electricity into New York
  • Have obtained a lease (executed or provisional) from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

Contract Requirements

The Order also:

  • Authorized NYSERDA to include commitments to project labor agreements and prevailing wages as contract requirements for awarded projects
  • Required bidders to:
    • Submit a fisheries mitigation plan describing development practices that will minimize impacts to fisheries
    • Participate in New York State’s offshore wind technical working groups: Environmental, Commercial Fishing, Jobs and Supply Chain, and Maritime
    • Consult with relevant State agencies around fishing, wildlife, and the environment
    • Make environmental data collected during site assessment publicly available
    • Implement lighting controls to minimize nighttime visibility
    • Minimize visual impacts

Evaluation Criteria

The Offshore Wind Standard Order prescribed the evaluation of proposals to be based upon an ultimate weighting of 70% price considerations, 20% economic benefits to New Yorkers, and 10% based on project viability.

Proposers Conference

NYSERDA hosted a conference for proposers via webinar on November 29, 2018 to review elements of the RFP including eligibility criteria, submission requirements, the proposal evaluation process, contract commitments, and the post-award process and agreement. View the presentation slides [PDF] and webinar recordingLink opens in new window - close new window to return to this page..

Responses to Written Questions

NYSERDA responded to written questions received during the Proposers Conference or sent via email to offshorewind@nyserda.ny.gov on November 13, 2018.

Four Major Developers Proposed

Four major developers submitted proposals to NYSERDA's 2018 solicitation. Public versions of the proposals are included below:

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Download icon Launching New York’s Offshore Wind Industry Download Phase One Report [PDF]
Download icon Phase One Report Summary Download Phase One Fact Sheet [PDF]