Governor David A. Paterson today announced the formation of an interdisciplinary working group between the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ConEd) to study the potential for an offshore wind project that would be situated at least ten miles off the Rockaway Peninsula. This project, which originated from Governor Paterson’s Renewable Energy Task Force, could provide significant market development benefits to the wind industry, create clean-tech jobs, and help diversify the State’s electricity system. In addition, any project resulting from this work could demonstrate that we can meet the State’s energy supply needs in an environmentally sound manner while benefiting the State’s economy by reducing dependence on imported energy.

Governor Paterson is committed to increasing New York State’s supply of clean, renewable energy as evidenced in his involvement with the Governor’s Renewable Energy Task Force, which was charged with identifying barriers to increased production of renewable energy, recommending policies and financial incentives to overcome those barriers, and identifying future markets where additional research and development investment is necessary. The Task Force issued its first report in February 2007. The report contained several recommendations for increasing the State’s renewable energy supply, including this project.

“Given the world’s limited fossil energy resources, we strive to meet the ever increasing demand for energy, we must look for ways to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and grasp every opportunity to study the use of clean and renewable forms of energy,” said Governor Paterson. “Our state and country are facing massive budget shortfalls, Wall Street is suffering, and New York’s residents are being forced to make tough financial decisions everyday. This project has the potential to bring investments in clean and renewable energy technologies and create clean-tech “green collar” jobs. The partnership between LIPA and ConEd could provide New Yorkers with a cleaner, brighter future, and I look forward to the conclusion of this project.”

The working group will study, among other things, suitable locations for an offshore wind project, transmission and interconnection capabilities, and the availability of wind as an energy source. The information gathered from the working group will be used to provide a better understanding of the opportunities for such a project and, if feasible, the development of a jointly issued request for proposals whereby both utilities could share the cost of the project as well as the power generated from the project. Wind developers, industry representatives and other interested parties will also be invited to participate in this study.

Several years ago, LIPA had proposed the construction of a 40-turbine wind farm that would have produced 140 megawatts of energy off the shore of Jones Beach. The project was ultimately shelved by LIPA when it was discovered that costs substantially exceeded what was originally anticipated. Had the project moved forward, those costs would have been borne solely by LIPA customers. The economies of scale would now dictate that an offshore wind project would have to be larger and farther out to sea than the one previously considered by LIPA. New offshore wind turbine technologies allow for the siting of facilities much further into the ocean than was possible just a few short years ago.

The announcement of the working group marks the first regional partnership project between LIPA and ConEd.

(YWN Desk – NYC)