January 25, 2024 — Several offshore wind developers will likely bid in New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation by the Thursday deadline, including units of European energy firms Orsted (ORSTED.CO), Equinor and BP (BP.L).
The development of the U.S. offshore wind industry took a major blow last year when companies working in several states said they could no longer complete projects profitably because of rocketing construction costs, higher interest rates and supply chain snags. The problems also hit the wind industry in other countries.
The development of the industry is key to meeting both U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. state-level clean energy targets. To prevent the projects from falling through, some state governments including New York have agreed to allow developers to rebid their projects at higher levels.
Orsted, Equinor and BP already have contracts to sell power in New York from offshore wind farms, but are expected to drop at least some of those old contracts in favor of new deals at higher power prices.