Arkwright wind farm gets boost 

ARKWRIGHT – A gust of good news has apparently developed for a town working on securing wind energy for more than a decade.

On Thursday, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority announced a first-of-its- kind agreement in which a large-scale renewable project supported by NYSERDA’s Main Tier program for large-scale renewables will supply energy directly to a corporation rather than to the wholesale market.

EDP Renewables North America and Bloomberg LP entered into a voluntary agreement for Bloomberg to purchase 20 megawatts of energy annually over 20 years from the Arkwright Summit Wind Project being developed in Chautauqua County. “That is a wonderful development,” said Arkwright Supervisor Frederic “Nick” Norton on Thursday evening.

The Arkwright Summit Wind Project will have 44 turbines and generate approximately 78 megawatts of clean, renewable energy, enough to power nearly 12,500 average-sized homes. Bloomberg has agreed to purchase more than 25 percent of the energy generated by the project. The project is expected to reduce emissions by more than 340,500 metric tons over 20 years, the equivalent of taking more than 71,000 cars off the road.

This is the largest purchase of power from a New York wind project by a corporation on record in the state, and was made possible by a long-term renewable energy credit contract NYSERDA awarded in 2014 under the Renewable Portfolio Standard Main Tier Program to develop the wind project.

This announcement is made as state and world leaders convene on climate change in Paris this week at COP 21. New York, under the leadership of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is committed to building a clean, affordable and resilient energy system that will use 50 percent renewable energy by 2030. To that end, the governor recently directed the New York State Department of Public Service to enact a new Clean Energy Standard mandating the achievement of this renewables target.

“Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has championed efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change by increasing the use of renewable energy in New York,” said John B. Rhodes, president and CEO, NYSERDA. “With our support, the development of the Arkwright Summit Wind project will help ensure New York achieves its 50 percent by 2030 renewable energy goals. Bloomberg’s purchase of the power from this project demonstrates that demand for long-term, fixed-price electricity exists in New York. In the future, we look forward to working with corporate customers throughout the state to help meet this demand with output from earlier-stage projects to enable greater deployment at a lower cost.”

For every dollar invested in the RPS Main Tier projects, New York realizes $3 in economic benefits. A total of 70 projects have been supported through 10 RPS Main Tier solicitations, producing more than 5.3 million megawatt-house of renewable energy annually.

Public hearings on the Arkwright project are set for 10 a.m. Monday and 11 a.m. Tuesday