The New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced the execution of two contracts to study the meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) conditions in the waters off the Atlantic coast of New York, called the New York Bight.
Namely, the contracts were awarded to:
- Ocean Tech Services: Will serve as a Floating LiDAR System Supplier (FLSS) and will be focused on permitting, hardware, deployment, maintenance, and decommissioning the LiDAR system;
- DNV GL: Will serve as the Data Management and Analysis Contractor (DMAC) with the primary focus on data analysis, data storage, and data presentation.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
Both companies will support the deployment of two floating LiDAR systems more than 20 miles off the Atlantic coast for a period of two years. The target date for deployment of these systems is May 2019 to start collecting wind speed and direction within rotor swept zones, wave and current measurements, as well as other environmental data.
This project aim to put New York on a path to carbon neutrality through a ramp-up of renewable energy including an increase of New York’s offshore wind target to 9,000 megawatts by 2035, up from 2,400 megawatts by 2030.
The contracts will lead to metocean Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system(s) being mounted on buoys 20 miles from the shore in the New York Bight. LiDAR is remote sensing equipment that uses pulsed laser light to determine wind speeds.
Each of the metocean buoys will be used for two years, possibly in multiple locations, to measure turbine hub-height wind speed and direction, wave and current measurements, as well as other environmental data. Better metocean characterization of the wind, wave, and ocean currents will help increase certainty of development conditions, which are important for planning project layout, turbine siting and engineering.
A more efficient design of offshore wind sites will also help enhance renewable energy output, providing more clean energy to the electric grid in a smaller physical and environmental footprint.
The sensors will inform avian ecologists and marine biologists of the presence, frequency and distribution of birds, bats and marine mammals and will inform future environmental impact assessment studies for offshore wind. Data collected will be available to the public, in order to encourage wider use and inform more studies.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos, stated:
This important initiative will provide essential information to better understand New York’s offshore resources and strategically tailor efforts to protect our economically important marine ecosystem. Offshore wind energy has the potential to provide our communities with a major source of clean and affordable electricity, supporting Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, and the data generated from this study will help ensure we responsibly develop this important resource
