The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is seeking comments on a draft plan to measure wind speed and ocean waves at the federal ocean site off the coast of Long Island on which it plans to bid on 15 December, 2016 alongside thirteen other applicants.
The draft plan, called MetOcean, calls for the use of Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) technology mounted on two buoys to obtain wind and wave data at the 79,350-acre site which starts some 11.5 nautical miles from Jones Beach, New York.
The buoys are expected to be in place for 12 to 24 months with the associated data to be made available for public use. This data will provide developers and their funders with confidence to finance development of the offshore wind area, reducing uncertainty and project costs, NYSERDA said.
NYSERDA is requesting feedback on the MetOcean plan from offshore wind energy developers, consultants, financiers, scientists, regulators and other stakeholders. Comments are due by 15 December.
“Now more than ever, New York State is leading on clean energy development and combating climate change,” said John B. Rhodes, President and CEO, NYSERDA.
“If NYSERDA wins the bid for this ocean site, we will ensure offshore wind in New York is developed responsibly, competitively and most cost-effectively for consumers, we will actively protect the environment, and we will balance the needs of all constituents and stakeholders, including coastal communities and fishing and maritime industries.”
At a recent stakeholder meeting, NYSERDA received encouragement for its plans to bid on the wind energy site in the lease auction to be administered by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
NYSERDA also plans to conduct wildlife surveys at the site, as well as data collection about the characteristics of the sea bottom, environmental impact studies of an offshore wind project at the site, and engineering specifications for bringing the electricity to shore at the ocean site to reduce project costs and shorten development time.
These studies will help developers better understand the potential for electricity production from the site, the most cost-effective type of structure to build, environmental issues to avoid and engineering challenges to consider, ultimately reducing offshore wind costs for New Yorkers, NYSERDA said.
To obtain the lowest possible cost for the offshore wind project, NYSERDA plans to bundle the results from the various studies, including the MetOcean work, with an offtake agreement for the electricity to be produced at the site, and hold competitive bidding on the package for companies interested in developing the site.
NYSERDA’s approach is modeled after a similar one used in Europe, which has successfully reduced offshore wind project costs there, the agency said. In addition, offshore wind costs in general are decreasing.
In the Netherlands, the winning bid in a July 2016 auction was 7.8 cents a kilowatt hour (kWh) for a 700 megawatt project. Just four months later the winning bid for a 600 megawatt project in Denmark was only 5.5 cents a kWh.
Offshore wind is critical to the state’s Clean Energy Standard to secure 50 percent of its electricity supply from renewable sources by 2030,which supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision, NYSERDA said.