On January 13, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State
announced by far the largest offshore wind award set by any state
in U.S. history, picking two projects that together are expected to
provide 2,490 megawatts ("MWs") of capacity and more than
2,500 good-paying jobs. This announcement, resulting from the New
York State Energy Research and Development Authority's
("NYSERDA") "Round 2" solicitation, positions
New York as the undeniable center of gravity for the burgeoning
U.S. offshore wind industry, which is expected to accelerate even
faster in 2021 with support from the incoming Biden
administration.
The awarded projects – Empire Wind II (1,260 MWs) and
Beacon Wind (1,230 MWs) – were both proposed by Equinor, the
large Norwegian energy company (formerly Statoil). Equinor's
press release regarding these awards is here, and Equinor's publicly available
proposal document, which outlines the projects, is
available here. As part of Equinor's proposal,
