Equinor of Norway and its partner BP have asked the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for permission to raise the price of power produced at three planned offshore US wind farms by 54%, according to a recent filing.
The two companies won the rights to build the Empire Wind 1, Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind farms off the New York coast, which have a combined capacity of 3,300 megawatts, capable of powering millions of homes, Reuters reported.
According to NYSERDA, the strike price for Empire Wind 1 would rise from $118.38 per megawatt hour (MWh) to $159.64/MWh and from $107.50/MWh to $177.84/MWh for Empire Wind 2, while Beacon Wind would see the strike price increase from 118.00/MWh to 190.82/MWh.
Equinor and BP cited cost pressures from "rampant inflation, global supply chain disruptions, soaring interest rates associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the increasing pace of the energy transition," as reasons for the price increase.
"Our starting point is we need a basic level of economics in the projects that we are sanctioning and that is also the case for Empire wind and Beacon Wind," an Equinor spokesperson said.
A group representing New York's largest energy consumers, meanwhile, stated that the proposed price amendments would increase consumer costs for the three projects by $14.8 billion over a 30-year contract tenure.
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