The Long Island - New York City Wind Collaborative has taken the next step in developing a proposed 350MW offshore wind farm by filing a lease application with the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE). The preliminary application is for development rights on the site which is between 13 and 17 miles off the coast of Long Island, New York, and which could be extended to 700MW.
The partnership consists of the Consolidated Edison Company of New York, the Long Island Power Authority and the New York Power Authority. It has issued a study of the planned development, which suggests the wind farm could generate $2.7bn in new economic activity and create between 2,300 and 4,700 construction jobs.
Earlier this year, the New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the latest awards under New York's Renewable Portfolio Standard programme which provided contracts worth $191m to 17 projects throughout the state. It is expected that around $1.85bn will be awarded to additional renewable energy projects over the next four years to meet the state's goal of producing 30 per cent of its electricity through renewables by 2015.
If the facility does get approval it will be the largest of its kind in the US and, if extended to 700MW, will be one of the world's largest. Experts recently explained that large projects such as this one are vital if companies are to lower the cost of offshore wind projects to make them competitive with other renewable sources and fossil fuels.