As the offshore wind sector continues to progress in New York State, there are certainly growing pains as the effort to grow the industry progresses. NYSERDA announced on April 19 that no final agreements could be reached with the three offshore wind projects that received provisional awards in October 2023. Those bids were all linked to major supply chain investments by General Electric and a larger turbine it planned to build that was aimed at boosting the region’s renewable energy portfolio, Politico reported. While this cancellation had no direct impact on Orange County, it was seen as a setback in advancing the offshore wind generation goals and supply chain investment across the state. “Subsequent to the provisional award announcement, material modifications to projects bid into New York’s third offshore wind solicitation caused technical and commercial complexities between provisional awardees and their partners, resulting in the provisionally awarded parties’ inability to come to terms,” NYSERDA wrote in an announcement.

The news, although unfortunate, was met by a dynamic response from NYSERDA and Governor Kathy Hochul, quickly mobilizing to soon make $500 million available for major component supply chain manufacturing and supportive logistics / small components. Simultaneously, NY5 was announced, a new offshore wind project solicitation. These monies, coupled with a new solicitation, positions New York State and Orange County to create good-paying jobs across the supply chain while advancing clean energy objectives.