Offshore wind in the U.S. received a boost last week following months of delays and cancellations of multiple high-profile projects, as the New York State Public Service Commission approved plans for Empire Wind I, a proposed offshore wind farm off of the southern coast of Long Island with over 800 MW of capacity.
Empire Wind is a 50-50 partnership between Norwegian state energy company Equinor and British Petroleum (BP). The project that received approval Thursday is the first stage of a planned offshore wind facility with 2.1 GW of total capacity, enough to power over 700,000 homes in the New York City metropolitan area. Equinor and BP's total investment in Empire Wind is estimated at $3 billion.
