Equinor and bp have partnered to launch an offshore wind innovation hub in New York to foster partnerships with start-ups.
The initiative is the result of a new three-year partnership between the Urban Future Lab (UFL) at the NY Tandon School of Engineering, Equinor and the National Offshore Wind R&D Consortium (NOWRDC), which is backed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).
It will use UFL’s expertise in promoting and helping to launch cleantech start-ups to facilitate partnerships with the international incubator community.
The new hub will create a physical location for offshore wind programming and host workshops, educational programmes and curricula for the start-ups.
The innovation hub initiative is being led by Equinor on behalf of its 50:50 partnership with bp.
Together the companies are developing the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects, which will have the combined capacity to generate 3.3GW of offshore wind energy, which will be enough to power nearly two million homes in New York.
Located between 15 and 30 miles southeast of Long Island, Empire Wind is being developed in two phases, Empire Wind 1 and 2, with a total installed capacity of more than 2GW.
Currently under development, Beacon Wind’s first phase, Beacon Wind 1, will have an installed capacity of 1,230MW.
Equinor Wind US president Siri Espedal Kindem said: “Offshore wind is increasingly accepted as a viable new source of renewable energy, but the industry has evolved by harnessing the power of nature through cutting-edge technological solutions.
“Equinor and bp are thrilled to launch this partnership in an effort to push the envelope even further by nurturing innovative new ideas from around the world that will help drive technological growth and efficiency even further.
“Establishing this innovation hub is just one way we are accelerating the development of the offshore wind industry in New York and beyond.”
Over the next few months, the partners will prepare a call for applications to find start-ups with technologies that can tackle challenges facing the offshore wind industry in the US.
The start-ups will then receive support and programming as well as potentially become partners of Equinor.
Share this:
