Following up on Governor Cuomo’s recent directive to support the development of up to 2400 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) released a recommendations report today that analyzes potential options for procuring offshore wind development in the near term. According to the Options Paper, NYSERDA is initially looking to issue two procurement rounds for 400 MW of offshore wind generation in 2018 and 2019, for a total of at least 800 MW.

As outlined in a previous advisory, NYSERDA identified four large offshore areas suitable for the creation of windfarms and presented them to the Federal Bureau of Ocean Management, citing New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s request for expedited federal approval to begin bidding for leases. One million acres along the south shore of Long Island were included in NYSERDA’s proposal.