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New York offshore wind hub adds innovation centre

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BP and Equinor have announced a new partnership to create an innovation hub at their New York offshore wind hub.

The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub is the result of a three-year partnership between Equinor, the Urban Future Lab (UFL) at NY Tandon School of Engineering, and the National Offshore Wind R&D Consortium (NOWRDC) The partners have the support of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

The lab aims to promote the development of offshore wind technology by facilitating partnerships with start-ups and bringing new technologies to US offshore wind. The hub will leverage UFL’s success in the cleantech start-up space to foster collaboration with the international incubator community, bringing to life pilot and demonstration projects.

A physical location for innovation adjacent to the Equinor and BP project office in sunset park, the partners say the hub will host educational programming, workshops and curricula for startups. Industry partners will also be involved in networking opportunities.

The partners will identify startups through a call for application process, selecting those with technologies to address challenges facing US offshore wind.

The innovation hub falls under the umbrella of BP and Equinor’s 50-50 strategic partnership to develop the 3.3GW Beacon Wind and Empire Wind projects.

“Offshore wind is increasingly accepted as a viable new source of renewable energy, but the industry has evolved by harnessing the power of nature through cutting-edge technological solutions,” said Siri Espedal Kindem, President of Equinor Wind U.S. “Equinor and bp are thrilled to launch this partnership in an effort to push the envelope even further by nurturing innovative new ideas from around the world that will help drive technological growth and efficiency even further.”

“The benefits of this program to the citizens of NYS are twofold. Not only will the Equinor/bp projects bring us clean, renewable energy, but the Innovation Hub will be an important step in building a new wind industry based in NY. The nascent technologies that are necessary for successful deployment will find a receptive home and business development services at the Hub,” said Pat Sapinsley, Managing Director, Cleantech Initiatives, NYU Urban Future Lab.