Equinor Launches High-Tech Buoy in Next Step Toward Harnessing Clean Energy from Offshore Wind

Equinor Wind US today announced deployment of a cutting-edge,
specialized buoy
designed to gather information, an important step in the development of
its offshore wind lease site in the “New York Bight,” which will provide
wind energy to New York and the region to help achieve the renewable
energy goals recently set forth by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The Floating LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) device will measure
wind speed, wind direction, wave conditions and several other marine
characteristics that help inform critical decisions in regard to the
resource potential and eventual development of the wind farm. It will be
deployed to record this information for two years.

“The deployment of this specialized buoy marks another step forward in
the multi-year process of bringing a reliable source of renewable energy
to the New York / New Jersey area,” Christer af Geijerstam, President,
Equinor Wind US, said. “Offshore wind power today is made possible by a
host of innovative technologies, from larger and more efficient turbines
to sophisticated LiDAR systems like this that enable us to gauge
invaluable information about the characteristics of this offshore lease
area.”

“The FLiDAR itself is an example of renewable energy innovation,” af
Geijerstam said. “The floating system, using solar panels, wind turbines
and large batteries in its hull, can operate autonomously throughout a
full winter season offshore New York. Access to good quality wind
recordings like those provided by the FLiDAR system is essential to the
development of any wind energy project today. It’s yet another example
of the technological innovation that Equinor is bringing to offshore
wind development in New York.”

Strong Presence on the East Coast

Equinor Wind US won the federal lease auction of 80,000 acres south of
New York and east of New Jersey in 2016. The company is currently
developing projects in the lease area for the offshore-wind markets in
New York and New Jersey, with the projects named Empire Wind in New York
and Boardwalk Wind in New Jersey.

In December 2018, Equinor submitted a winning bid of $135 million for a
lease area offshore Massachusetts in an auction held by the US
Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The new
lease, located south of Massachusetts and east of New York, gives
Equinor a strong strategic position in the region.

The company now holds leases within reach of some of the most important
markets for offshore wind in the U.S., with the potential to provide
over two million homes with clean, renewable power.

Growing Renewable Energy Portfolio Worldwide

Equinor is building a material position in renewable energy and evolving
into a broad energy company. Equinor now powers more than one million
European homes with renewable wind power from four projects in the
United Kingdom and Germany. Equinor commissioned the world’s first
floating offshore wind farm last year, off the coast of Scotland, a
technology essential to the development of offshore wind in many
locations around the world, including the west coast of the US. Equinor
is also developing offshore wind in Poland, as well as solar energy in
Brazil and Argentina.

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