Dive Brief:
- Offshore wind developer Equinor announced Thursday that it has secured a $3 billion financing package for its 810-MW Empire Wind 1 project offshore New York, and reached financial close on the project at the end of December.
- Equinor expects capital investments in Empire Wind 1 to total around $5 billion, including fees for the use of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, the company said. The project is under construction and remains on track to begin commercial operations in 2027.
- Other commercial-scale projects in the Northeast are encountering roadblocks. Invenergy is seeking a second delay to its 2.4-GW Leading Light Wind project offshore New Jersey due to price volatility in the offshore wind sector, and Vineyard Offshore is withdrawing the 1.2-GW Vineyard Wind 2 from contract negotiations with Massachusetts.
Dive Insight:
Vineyard Offshore said Dec. 20 that it was withdrawing the 800 MW it had committed to Massachusetts from contract negotiations, due to Connecticut’s decision to not buy the remaining 400 MW, WBUR reported.
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island are part of the first multi-state offshore wind procurement agreement in the U.S., but the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said it has “closed its solicitation for offshore wind resources without selecting any bids” in a Dec. 20 announcement about the state’s latest clean energy procurements.
Invenergy requested in a Dec. 19 filing that the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities extend the stay granted to Leading Light Wind in September due to “the challenges it faced in the procurement of critical project equipment due to volatility in the equipment market.”
“The offshore wind equipment market continues to experience significant price volatility and the Company has not yet identified a solution to that volatility,” Invenergy said in its latest filing. “Invenergy remains committed to the LLW Project [and] simply needs additional time to work through the present challenges.”
The company asked BPU to extend the stay to May 20.
The outlook for the U.S. offshore wind industry remains complex — some commercial-scale projects are facing turbulence while others take signifcant steps forward, while the inauguration of offshore wind critic President-elect Donald Trump draws closer.
Equinor said its ability to reach a financial close on Empire Wind 1 “maintains our momentum toward bringing a significant source of power to the grid,” and the project was able to secure competitive terms due to “strong interest from lenders.”
Equinor said in June it had an agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to sell power from Empire Wind 1 for 25 years at a $155/MWh strike price. The company plans to sell at least part of the wind farm to a new partner, it said in the press release.
The 2.4-GW SouthCoast Wind project, which will deliver power to Massachusetts and Rhode Island, also cleared a hurdle recently when it received approval from the Interior Department on Dec. 20 — becoming the 11th commercial-scale offshore wind project approved under the Biden administration, and likely the last. The project is being developed by SouthCoast Wind, which is backed by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE.
“When we walked in the door of this Administration, there were zero approved, commercial-scale offshore wind projects in federal waters. Today, I am proud to celebrate our 11th approval, a testament to the commitment and enduring progress made by the hardworking public servants at the Department of the Interior,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
