A New York State utility has approved a 20-year power purchase agreement for Deepwater Wind’s 90MW South Fork offshore wind project, clearing the way for the developer to advance permitting and construction planning.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said: “This bold action marks the next step in our unprecedented commitment to offshore wind, as well as our ambitious long term energy goal of supplying half of all energy from renewable sources by 2030.”
The contract allows the Long Island Power Authority to prepay a portion in a lump sum to reduce financing costs for the purchase of wind energy. The deal also includes an optional five-year extension at a discounted price.
The project, located about 30 miles southeast of Montauk in the 1GW-plus Rhode Island-Massachusetts wind energy area, includes plans to install 15 6MW turbines however the PPA allows Deepwater “to select from commercially available turbine sizes”.
South Fork will connect to the LIPA grid via a 50-mile subsea cable and a new project substation on land next to the existing East Hampton system substation.
Construction is planned to get underway in 2019 with commercial operation slated to start in 2022.
Image: Deepwater plans to commission South Fork project in 2022 (MorgueFile)
Deepwater nails 90MW deal
New York utility signs 20-year PPA for South Fork offshore wind project
By EBS