Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the largest combined clean energy solicitations ever issued in the U.S., seeking up to 4,000 megawatts of renewable capacity to combat climate change. New York’s second offshore wind solicitation seeks up to 2,500 megawatts of projects, the largest in the nation’s history, in addition to last year’s solicitation which resulted in nearly 1,700 megawatts awarded. The solicitation includes a multi-port strategy and requirement for offshore wind generators to partner with any of the 11 prequalified New York ports to stage, construct, manufacture key components, or coordinate operations and maintenance activities. This solicitation has the potential to bring New York State halfway toward its goal of 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035 and meet Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading climate and environment goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Funding for port investments will include $400 million in both public and private funding.
“During one of the most challenging years New York has ever faced, we remain laser-focused on implementing our nation-leading climate plan and growing our clean energy economy, not only to bring significant economic benefits and jobs to the state, but to quickly attack climate change at its source by reducing our emissions.” Governor Cuomo said. “With these record-breaking solicitations for renewable energy and new port infrastructure, New York continues to lead the way with the most ambitious Green New Deal in the nation, creating a future fueled by clean, renewable energy sources.”
In addition to the offshore wind solicitation, the Governor also announced the issuance by NYSERDA and NYPA of the nation’s largest coordinated solicitations for land based large-scale renewable energy projects by a U.S. state, under the State’s ambitious Clean Energy Standard. Together, the combined solicitations from NYSERDA and NYPA seek to procure over 1,500 megawatts of clean, renewable energy, enough to power nearly 500,000 homes. Applicable land-based projects selected will be fast-tracked to construction under groundbreaking legislation passed in the budget to vastly accelerate renewable energy siting to ensure the projects are developed responsibly and quickly so the state meets its CLCPA mandate.
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the solicitations, combined with a competitive multi-port funding opportunity are expected to spur approximately $7 billion in direct investments and to create approximately 4,500 good-paying short and long-term jobs at applicable prevailing wages, helping to jumpstart and drive economic growth as part of reopening and reimagining New York State’s economy. The solicitations prioritize hiring in Environmental Justice Areas and benefits to Disadvantaged Communities in line with the state’s new climate law. The solicitations also send a clear buy-clean demand signal to the market to spur the use of advanced materials, like carbon-negative cement, and other strategies to reduce the carbon footprint of future large-scale renewable projects. This announcement, coupled with critical siting reforms in the enacted budget, demonstrates a comprehensive acceleration of action towards achieving New York State’s mandate to secure 70 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable energy by 2030.
In aggregate, the offshore wind, port infrastructure, and land-based renewable trifecta of solicitations seek to procure approximately 12 million megawatt-hours, enough to power over 1.5 million homes annually. Together, taking into account the value of avoided carbon emissions, these solicitations are expected to deliver a combined $3 billion in net benefits over the 20- to 25-year life of the projects.
The clean energy industry has proven to be a strong economic driver, outpacing growth in the national workforce by nearly twice the rate pre-COVID and will have a pivotal role in creating short and long-term economic activity to help local economies rebound from the pandemic after reopening. The combined offshore wind and port solicitation marks an important next step in New York’s offshore wind program to build on the state’s first two offshore wind projects – Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind – which represent the single largest renewable energy procurement in U.S. history, at nearly 1,700 megawatts, and will create enough energy to power over 1 million homes. Notably, the solicitation will accept bids that combine offshore wind generation projects with investments in New York ports to holistically support the state’s burgeoning offshore wind industry through an innovative public/private partnership.
The State’s issuance of coordinated land-based renewable energy solicitations as part of a series of procurements under the state’s Clean Energy Standard is expected to result in the development of dozens of new large-scale renewable projects over the next decade. New York has awarded 67 large scale renewable energy projects since 2018 – the most significant State commitment to renewables in the nation. These previously announced land-based renewable awards combined with New York’s record-breaking commitment to offshore wind announced last year will be capable of generating over 11 percent of the state’s expected electricity demand in 2030.
