Archive: News

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Monday that New York State is pursuing partnerships with Ireland and Denmark by signing two separate memorandums of understanding that will lead to improved electric infrastructure and the advancement of more renewable energy sources, including offshore wind. The agreements were announced during Climate Week and will advance both New York's nation-leading plan to combat climate change and the Governor's Green New Deal agenda. This summer, Cuomo signed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which mandates New York's power be 100 percent clean and carbon-free by 2040.

"New York is committed to innovation and will benefit greatly from these partnerships with two of our key international partners. Jointly pursuing our shared goals will help bring new clean energy resources onto our next-generation electric grids," Cuomo said. "These collaborations will enable New York State to remain at the forefront of technological advancement and economic development as we shape an energy future that will benefit all New Yorkers by lowering costs and reducing our carbon footprint."

The first agreement, with Ireland's electric utility and grid operator, lays out plans to model, create and test new solutions for energy systems in the state's first collaborative electric utility research facility at the New York Power Authority (NYPA). The collaboration between NYPA, the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), a state-owned Irish utility; EirGrid Group, a state-owned Irish electric power transmission operator; and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that focuses on the electric industry, aims to accelerate improvements to energy infrastructure, create more reliable and efficient electric grids, and integrate distributed generation and resources onto local and regional power grids.

The second agreement expands an ongoing partnership between the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate for the development and procurement of offshore wind energy. Expertise and knowledge will be exchanged while developing innovative solutions for the development of offshore wind energy, including areas such as infrastructure, supply chain, workforce development and procurement solutions. This collaborative partnership will build upon the foundation of the New York State Offshore Wind Master Plan, which was released in 2018 by Cuomo and moves the state closer to its goal to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035.

Denmark is one of the leading offshore wind energy producers in Europe with the third largest market for offshore wind comprising of 15 operational wind farms totaling over 1,700 megawatts. With world leading offshore wind industry and workforce capabilities, Denmark boasts expertise within all aspects of the offshore wind supply chain, including wind turbine producers, development and manufacturing of offshore wind farms and maintenance.

The new electric utility and grid technologies developed under the New York-Irish agreement will be designed and tested in the Advanced Grid Innovation Laboratory for Energy (AGILe), located at NYPA's headquarters in White Plains, N.Y. AGILe can perform a variety of transmission and distribution grid simulation and hardware- or software-in-the-loop studies, aimed at improving reliability and incorporating intermittent resources - like solar and wind - into the energy mix.

The new research competencies fine-tuned in AGILe will be of particular interest to the senior leaders and policy-makers of Ireland, EirGrid, and ESB as the country is on the same clean energy path as New York State. The European Union has mandated that 16 percent of Ireland's total energy consumption come from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities Dan Jørgensen said, "The signing of the extension of the cooperation agreement between the Danish Ministry for Climate, Energy and Utilities and NYSERDA emphasizes the importance of global partnerships in addressing climate change. New York and Denmark have both recently set some very ambitious clean energy targets. Through our strong partnership, Denmark will continue to support the ambitious offshore wind buildout in New York in the coming years. At the same time Denmark will benefit from experiences gained from the greening of New York's economy and its strong focus on offshore wind over the coming years. We are proud to be able to work with New York on its tremendous journey towards a clean energy future."

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