New York's Harris pledges 'more flexibility' as state ploughs ahead with offshore wind Round 5

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (Nyserda) is moving forward on its next round for offshore wind procurement for at least 2.6GW following scrapping of its blockbuster 4GW round 3 amid disputes between project developers and turbine OEM GE Vernova.

“We are already making plans to advance a competitive solicitation as early as this summer and continue to invest in our supply chain infrastructure,” Nyserda CEO Doreen Harris said during the plenary at Oceantic Network’s International Partnering Forum (IPF) in New Orleans.

Nyserda is charged with managing the state's energy transition.

The procurement agency issued a request for information (RfI) seeking feedback on a round 5 (NY 5) for up to 2.6GW of offshore wind power to partly replace lost capacity in the cancelled one.

This is not the first time that Nyserda has needed to replace cancelled capacity. Its rapidly organised round 4 procured 1.7GW that had been cancelled due to surging inflation and interest rates.

Among key questions being asked in the upcoming RfI is whether to decouple generation and supply chain development.

Supply chain decoupling

Round 3 simultaneously awarded generation projects as well as $300m to fund GE’s plans to build a Haliade-X nacelle assembly and blade manufacturing site at the Port of Coeymans near the state capital at Albany.

The plans fell apart amid a dispute over GE's decision to move away from its 18MW turbine that formed the basis of the developers' project proposals in favour of a "workhorse" 15.5MW model.

Generation and supply chain awards would be done “in a sequence that involves NY 5’s conclusion before we award against the $300m supply chain” grant, she added.

The supply chain funds are part of $500m pledged by New York governor Kathy Hochul for port and supply chain investments in 2022.

For the balance, Nyserda on Tuesday issued a request for proposals (RfP) for a $200m Supportive Manufacturing and Logistics for tier 3 and 4 suppliers – “focusing on contributors to those large projects, but not the major OEMs”, said Harris.

The state is also set to release its next offshore wind plan to build off its 9GW by 2035 mandate.

NY offshore wind 2.0

“9GW for offshore wind is certainly a floor and not a ceiling by any means,” she told the plenary.

The New York Bight is a shelf of shallow, windswept sea off the coasts of New York and New Jersey. Some 488,000 acres (1,975km2) was auctioned off in 2022 for a record $4.37bn split among six developers.

All three cancelled projects in New York's third round – Total, Rise Light & Power, and Corio's 1.4GW Attentive Energy 1, RWE-National Grid's 1.3GW Community Offshore, and CIP's Excelsior Wind – were located in the Bight.

Two more projects, including Total-Corio's Attentive Energy 2 and Invenergy's Leading Light, are contracted by New Jersey.

Nyserda's request in the New York Bight “dovetails nicely with their plans”, said Harris.

Nyserda is likewise proposing to hold off on announcing provisional awards until all contracts have been hammered out, Harris said.

Nyserda announces provisional winners in its tenders before all contracts have been finalised, but the turbine impasse in round 3 resulted in their cancellation.

"There will always be challenges that occur to projects between the time we announce to the time they are constructing," she said.

The RfI “is intended to get at is whether there is at least value in waiting to announce the actual award until we have a contract,” she said.