Empire Wind 2
Lease area OCS-A 0512, the single BOEM lease that carries both Empire Wind 1 and Empire Wind 2 (Empire Wind 2 LLC designated operator of the EW2 area on 2024-11-01).
Status
On Holdlifecycle stage
FragileHafrok completion outlook
Ownership
Equinor — 100% ◆Location
United StatesNorthwest Atlantic
Technology
Capacity
1,260 MW ◇
Turbines
— ◇
Foundation
Monopile ◇
Site & conditions
Site rights
Seabed rights held Seabed lease · Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) · 2017-03 ◆
Water depth
34–39 m ≈
Wind speed
9.7 m/s @ 150 m ≈
Revenue & grid
Offtake
OREC terminated ◆
Grid
—
Schedule
FID
Not taken
COD · Hafrok
—
Delivery outlook modelled by Hafrok · calibrated on delivered projects
—
on hold — no credible date; the chart shows when a restarted project might complete
Chance of delivery
≈6%
estimated chance this project reaches commercial operation
Projects put on hold complete ≈15% of the time on Hafrok's record. This one sits well below that: a market with a thinner delivery record, its size, technical complexity and no offtake contract yet. Only a restart would change that — there is no dated schedule to judge against. That figure is then halved while Hafrok reads the United States route as closed: a route that has to be won again is less likely to be won.
COD outlook
If it completes, when — Hafrok’s probability by year (teal) · the developer’s COD guidance, by date stated (ink)
| Year | Probability |
|---|---|
| 2033 | 20.0% |
| 2034 | 20.0% |
| 2035 | 20.0% |
| 2036 | 20.0% |
| 2037 | 20.0% |
| Stated | Announced COD |
|---|---|
| 2022-01-14 | 2027 |
| 2023-11-22 | 2028 |
How Hafrok got this date
1
On hold — no dated schedule
The project is recorded as On Hold, so no sequence of milestones can be trusted. Hafrok publishes no expected year; the chart instead spreads the remaining chance of completion over the years a restarted project might finish in.
2
Route closed until 2029
Hafrok believes a held project in the United States is unlikely to resume before a route to build exists again, and does not expect one before
January 2029. On that reading the years the chart spreads the remaining chance over begin after 2029, not after today. This is Hafrok's judgment, not a fact on the record — what it rests on: United States market page.3
Chance of delivery — separate from timing
Start from the share of On Hold projects that went on to complete — ≈15%, measured on Hafrok's record of delivered and abandoned projects, with an allowance held back where that record cannot yet speak (projects still unresolved, changed market conditions). Historically only a minority of projects put on hold returned to delivery — the estimate reflects that. Then adjust for this project's own evidence — offtake, market, size, technical complexity — and halve the result while Hafrok reads the United States route as closed (a route that has to be won again is less likely to be won) — to ≈6%, which rates it
Fragile on Hafrok's four-step delivery scale (Delivering · Expected · Prospective · Fragile).Project timeline & ownership verified milestones on the spine · ownership from Hafrok’s transactions record
JV entry · 2020-09
Equinor → BP 50%
- Stake
- 50%
- Consideration
- not disclosed
- Announced
- 2020-09
- Closed
- 2021-01
- Project stage
- early development
BP acquired a 50% non-operated interest in Empire Wind 2 as part of the same USD 1.1 billion combined transaction that covered Empire Wind 1 and Beacon Wind (announced September 10, 2020; closed January 29, 2021; effective January 1, 2020). Empire Wind 2 is the larger second phase of the Equinor Empire Wind lease (OCS-A 0512, 80,000 acres). At the time of the BP entry, Empire Wind 2 was in early development — no offtake contracts, no FID. The USD 1.1 billion covered the combined Empire Wind 1+2 and Beacon Wind portfolio; individual values not determinable. See Empire Wind 1 companion record for full context. Post-transaction: Equinor 50%, BP 50% of Empire Wind 2.
Evidence
- equinor.com — Equinor partners with BP in US offshore wind to capture value and create platform for growth ↗ 2020-09 ◆ held
- bp.com — bp and Equinor form strategic partnership to develop offshore wind energy in US | News and insights | Home ↗ 2020-09 ◆ held
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Acquisition · 2024-01
BP → Equinor 50%
- Stake
- 50%
- Consideration
- not disclosed
- Announced
- 2024-01
- Closed
- 2024-04
- Project stage
- early development
Equinor acquired BP's 50% stake in Empire Wind 2 as part of the cash-neutral portfolio swap announced January 25, 2024 and closed April 4, 2024 — the same transaction in which Equinor acquired BP's 50% of Empire Wind 1 and BP took 100% of Beacon Wind. Empire Wind 2 was in early development at time of swap — its OREC with NYSERDA had been terminated in January 2024 (citing inflation, high interest rates, supply chain disruptions) and no new offtake had been secured. Empire Wind 2 remains 100% Equinor post-swap, no FID, awaiting new New York State offtake round. See Empire Wind 1 companion records for full BP/Equinor swap context.
Evidence
- Equinor ASA — Equinor to take full ownership in Empire Wind through a swap transaction with bp in the US ↗ ◆ held
- bp.com — bp to take full ownership of Beacon Wind US offshore projects and transfer interest in Empire Wind to Equinor | News and insights | Home ↗ 2024-01 ◆ held
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Dashed tick marks today (9 Sep 2026). Ownership lives in the band below: one station per recorded deal, dated at its label, in deal order rather than to calendar scale. Secondary trades appear only at the interchanges; grey lines are parties whose entry or exit Hafrok’s record does not hold.
Announced COD: slipped so far +1.0 yr (first announced 2027) · the full guidance history is in the delivery chart above
Revenue & offtake route to market — open
No offtake secured — route to market open
OREC · NYSERDA Offshore Wind Solicitation 2 (ORECRFP20-1) awarded 2021-01, terminated. No live offtake on record. ◇
The routes describe what exists in this market — not a prediction of which the project will take. Timing math for the auction gate lives in the delivery outlook above.
Next visible round · from the auction calendar
NYSERDA Offshore Wind Solicitation 6 (NY6) ◇
design/RFI stage only; no timetable, conditioned on the federal market improving
Installation how the build is going · from satellite counts and Hafrok’s registers
Installation not started
nothing to count yet: the satellite tracker begins when offshore construction does
Installation · on record
StageOn Hold
Offshore constructionnot started
Expected start of operationnot stated
Sources & verification
4/13 fields verified · rests on 14 sources (7 primary) · ◆ 9 documents held
◆Verified≈Modelled◇Sourced∴Inferred⌁Convention○Unverified∅No source·Derived
Numbers are stable citation ids — grouped by source class, so they are not consecutive.
Regulator3
[14]
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)2026-08-23◆ US BOEM offshore-wind register (FR docum…
“Lease row OCS-A 0512: companies ['Empire Offshore Wind , LLC']; lease_dates ['04/01/2017']; lease_terms ['25 Years']; states ['New York']; block_count 148.”
supportsRegister entry
[16]
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)2025-12-22◆ Empire Wind - BOEM state activities page…
“The auction lasted 33 rounds. Statoil Wind US LLC, which bid just under $42.5 million was the winner of lease area OCS-A 0512. [...] The commercial wind energy lease was signed and executed by BOEM on…”
supportsSite rights
[17]
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)2024-12-20◆ Empire Wind 2 - COP Approval Letter to E…
“re-issue the February 21, 2024, approval with conditions of the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the Lease as two separate approvals, one for the EW1 Project and one for the EW2 Project. BOE…”
supportsConsentConsent granted
Operator2
[4]
[5]
Auction results1
[18]
New York PSC2026-06-22◆ us-nyserda-sol2-2021-nypsc-repricing
NY PSC denies OREC inflation-adjustment petitions (Oct 2023): the contracts had no reopener
supportsOfftake history
Auction pipeline1
[19]
Offshore Wind (offshorewind.biz)2026-02◆ ny-ny5-ended-2026
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsNYSERDA Offshore Wind Solicitation 6 (NY6)
Trade press5
[6]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[12]
Offshore Wind (offshorewind.biz)2023-11-22◆ Equinor and BP's Empire Wind Offshore Pr…
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsCOD history
Unverified import1
[1]
Encyclopaedic1
[7]