Statoil wants buyer for New York offshore wind power by end 2018
Statoil plans to sign a power purchase agreement for the output of a wind farm offshore New York by the end of 2018. The Norwegian energy major paid $42.5m last December to lease a 79,350-acre site that could host a 1 GW wind farm in that location. Statoil already supplies New York with natural gas from the Marcellus shale. It aims to invest up to $12.3bn in renewable energy and low carbon technology through 2030.
Norway’s Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) aims to sign a power purchase agreement with a U.S. utility to develop an offshore wind power project off New York, a senior company official said on Oct. 31.

Statoil won a lease sale of 79,350 acres offshore New York, which could be potentially used to develop up to a one gigawatt capacity wind power park, by bidding $42.5 million December 2016.

“Now we need to sign a power off-take agreement to develop the project. The counterpart would be one of New York’s utilities,” Stephen Bull, Statoil’s senior vice president, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.

“We expect to sign the agreement towards the end [of] 2018,” he added.

Statoil, which also supplies New York with natural gas from the Northern Marcellus shale play, sees the U.S. as an important emerging market for offshore wind, both for bottom-fixed and floating turbines.

The company built the world’s first floating wind power park off Scotland in 2017 and is looking at more opportunities in Japan, California and Hawaii.

“We hope to have a new [floating wind power] project within the next three years,” Bull said.

Statoil plans to invest up to 100 billion Norwegian crowns (US$12.3 billion) in the renewable energy and low carbon technologies from 2017 until 2030.