US begins getting to grips with offshore wind grids

At about the same time that the draft transmission plan for the Golden State was unveiled, National Grid Ventures and Con Edison Transmission submitted a proposal to build transmission infrastructure that will carry offshore wind power to New Jersey’s electric grid.

The Garden State Energy Path will enable delivery of approximately 6 GW of offshore wind power from its point of landfall at the Sea Girt National Guard Training Center to the Larrabee Tri-Collector Station in Howell Township. The project will be underground, allowing the cables to be protected from storms and other extreme weather that can cause customer outages.

The project consists of ‘pre-build infrastructure’ that will house the cables carrying electricity generated by four wind projects to the grid. The project is foundational to helping New Jersey reach its goal of 11 GW of offshore wind by 2040. 

National Grid Ventures president northeast Will Hazelip says the Garden State Energy Path will provide a route that reduces disruption and maximises benefits. Working with Con Edison Transmission, he says a cost-effective project has been designed that has the flexibility to support the latest grid technologies. “Pre-build infrastructure is a smart and co-ordinated approach to transmission for offshore wind, reducing the need to separately construct transmission infrastructure for each offshore wind project,” says Mr Hazelip. Con Edison Transmission president Stuart Nachmias says the Garden State Energy Path “will enable the grid to accommodate new sources of renewable energy and handle increased demand as customers transition from fossil fuels.” If the project goes ahead, the Garden State Energy Path will be in operation by early 2029, ready for use by selected New Jersey offshore windfarms.

A month earlier, another important development took place when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the ‘Large Generator Interconnection Agreement’ (LGIA) executed between Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project, New York ISO (NYISO) and Consolidated Edison Company of New York. The announcement was the first FERC approval for any offshore wind project to connect directly into the New York City transmission system.

FERC’s approval allows the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project to connect through the Sunset Park Onshore Substation at South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into the New York City electrical grid at Con Edison’s Gowanus substation, delivering 810 MW of power. 

Equinor Renewables America vice president Teddy Muhlfelder describes execution of the LGIA as “a key milestone for Empire Wind and for New York City.” He says federal approval was the culmination of a years-long process under NYISO and “another important step in allowing Equinor to advance a project that will connect offshore renewable power to Brooklyn and into hundreds of thousands of New York homes.” 

The announcement was the latest in a series of milestones for Empire Wind 1, which was selected as a provisional winner in New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation on 29 February 2024. The project has also received approval of its federal Construction and Operations Plan from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the New York Public Service Commission issued the project’s Article VII Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need in December 2023.

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