Queensboro Renewable Express is a proposed project to deliver offshore wind energy to New York City.
It includes two separate underwater transmission cables and related onshore facilities to bring offshore wind energy into New York City at the site of the Ravenswood Generating Station in Long Island City. Rise Light & Power is developing this project via our subsidiary, Queensboro Development, LLC.
Why is this important?
We’re working to transform Ravenswood into a clean energy hub.
Building Queensboro Renewable Express gets New York State closer to its target of 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040 set forth in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (“Climate Act”). The project is designed to replace existing 1960s-era fossil fuel generators at Ravenswood Generating Station, which powers one in five homes in NYC on the hottest days of the year. Queensboro Renewable Express is the next step in realizing our goals to reduce emissions, create jobs, and keep the lights on for New Yorkers
How does it work?
The cables will be bundled in two High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) circuits, and each circuit will be installed in a discrete trench below the seafloor. Except for onshore equipment at the Ravenswood site, Queensboro Renewable Express will be entirely underwater.
Onshore equipment – including two converter stations, a substation, and operations and maintenance facilities for the transmission line – will be located at Ravenswood and connect to adjacent Con Edison substations.
From there, electricity flows to homes, schools, and businesses via the existing power grid.
Where do we go from here?
The project needs certain permits and approvals to begin construction, including the issuance of an Article VII Certificate by the NYS Public Service Commission.
The Article VII process provides opportunities for the public to learn more about the project, attend information forums and public hearings, and submit public comments.
We surveyed 255 miles of the ocean floor to select the 18.5 mile cable route in New York waters.
This proposed path under the seafloor runs through the Upper and Lower New York Bays and the East River. The route is designed to minimize length, avoid known shipwrecks and submerged objects, and minimize impacts to wildlife and waterway traffic.
How wind energy gets to your home
*These steps are not part of the current Article VII review process
Spinning wind turbines capture energy*
Turbine machinery converts wind energy into electric power and connects to underwater cables*
Electricity travels through underwater cables below the seafloor to its landing at Ravenswood in Queens
Onshore infrastructure at Ravenswood connects the clean electricity to the power grid
Energy gets to your home!*
Queensboro Renewable Express can connect multiple offshore wind facilities to New York City.
Two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) circuits will deliver electricity to Ravenswood.
These two circuits, “Circuit A” and “Circuit B”, will be installed below the seafloor. They each contain two cables along with fiber optic communications cables.
Although these cable bundles are only about 6 inches tall and 12 inches wide, together they will deliver approximately 2.62 gigawatts of clean energy, enough to power over 2 million households!
How will the cables be installed?
- Two HVDC circuits will be installed in narrow trenches 18-24 inches wide below the seafloor. Burial depths for the cables will vary between 2.5 and 15 feet deep.
- Different construction techniques may be used along the route based on differences in the seafloor surface, circuit depth requirements, and other characteristics. Each underwater circuit will take approximately 2 to 3 months to install in New York waters.
- We plan to install the cables using remotely operated vehicles that can include a jetting device, a mechanical trencher, or a hybrid of the two. For each circuit, this allows us to use low impact construction methods.
Here is an example of an underwater, self-propelled, cable burial tool that may be used in Queensboro Renewable Express.
For illustrative purposes, the tool is shown as being inactive with the cable depressor raised.
All onshore infrastructure will be at Ravenswood.
We studied where onshore facilities are expected to be visible in New York City.
While most of the Queensboro Renewable Express will be buried under the sea floor and riverbed, we will also need to build two converter stations, new substation equipment, and operations and maintenance facilities at Ravenswood.
We currently anticipate that the structure containing the converter stations will be steel framed with a gray metal facade. Within it, equipment converts the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power from offshore wind to High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) power.
From there, the electricity will connect to existing Con Edison substations adjacent to Ravenswood and power our community!
The visual assessment was based on an early design of the largest size the converter station may need to be. If this project is approved, the architectural and design details will be refined as part of the Environmental Management and Construction Plan process. We will continue to update community members as the design progresses.
A view of Queensboro Renewable Express
Roosevelt Island Greenway
Intersection of 35th Ave and 12th St
These simulations or renderings show what the Queensboro Renewable Express infrastructure, based on the current design, would look like from viewpoints like Roosevelt Island and near New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Ravenswood Houses.