New York ends fifth offshore wind solicitation process ‘due to federal actions disrupting market’

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has closed the state’s fifth offshore wind solicitation, launched in 2024, without awarding any offshore renewable energy credits (ORECs). The state agency has also launched a Request for Information (RFI) to inform a potential process through which the state would support the predevelopment of offshore wind projects.

NYSERDA closed the offshore wind solicitation on 13 February, saying the reason behind the decision was the current market conditions caused by federal actions.

“On February 13, 2026, NYSERDA concluded ORECRFP24-1 without award due to federal actions disrupting the offshore wind market and instilling significant uncertainty into offshore wind project development. That week, NYSERDA launched a Request for Information to gather information from the industry to help address these challenges in a thoughtful and timely manner”, NYSERDA states on its website.

In the RFI published on 10 February, NYSERDA invited industry feedback on potential initiatives to further offshore wind project readiness, which would focus on predevelopment activities.

“New York State is exploring whether new or modified approaches to offshore wind procurement could help support a steady and sustainable pipeline of new projects capable of advancing toward future offtake and construction. One potential concept under consideration is State provision of funding or other support of predevelopment activities of offshore wind projects. Such an approach could potentially help projects advance in a timelier manner and reduce risks at the time of future offtake, both of which ultimately contribute to lower costs for ratepayers”, NYSERDA states.

As for the now-cancelled offshore wind solicitation, the procurement was launched in July 2024 and contained provisions such as inflation indexing, labour provisions, stakeholder engagement requirements, and disadvantaged community commitments.

NYSERDA received four applications in the fifth offshore wind solicitation, including Attentive Energy One, Community Offshore Wind, Excelsior Wind, and Long Island Wind, according to information on NYSERDA’s website.

In September 2024, NYSERDA said it had received a total of 25 proposals from four developers, including the three projects that were rebid after being cancelled by NYSERDA earlier that year, and a new project from Ørsted.

The three projects that re-entered the procedure were Community Offshore Wind by RWE and National Grid Ventures (NGV), Excelsior Wind, developed by Vineyard Offshore, and Attentive Energy One, developed by TotalEnergies, Rise Light & Power and Corio Generation. Ørsted filed a proposal for its Long Island Wind project.

In October, the developers filed the final proposals for their projects in New York.