Equinor and BP have collaborated to launch an offshore wind innovation hub in New York, with the aim of facilitating partnerships with start-ups. The programme is the product of a three-year collaboration between the NY Tandon School of Engineering’s Urban Future Lab (UFL), Equinor, and the National Offshore Wind R&D Consortium, which is sponsored by the New York City Economic Development Corporation. It will take advantage of UFL’s experience in promoting and launching cleantech start-ups to facilitate partnerships with the international incubator community.
Reportedly, the new hub will house workshops, educational programmes, and curricula for start-ups, as well as provide a physical location for offshore wind programming. Equinor is spearheading the innovation hub initiative on behalf of its 50:50 partnership with bp. The Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects are being developed by the two companies together and will have a combined capacity of 3.3 GW of offshore wind energy, enough to power approximately two million homes in New York. Furthermore, Empire Wind is being developed in two phases, Empire Wind 1 and 2, with a total installed capacity of more than 2 GW. It is located between 15 and 30 miles southeast of Long Island.
In April 2022, Equinor signed an agreement with Naturgy to compete in Spain’s upcoming offshore wind auction. The country’s first offshore wind auction is slated to take place in 2023 off the coast of the Canary Islands. Its mission is to support the Spanish government in attaining its target of installing up to 3 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
