The New York Power Authority announced today that it will pursue a submerged land lease from the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on behalf of the Long Island–New York City Offshore Wind Collaborative.

Power authority trustees approved the lease application to develop the Long Island-New York City Offshore Wind Project.  Officials are hoping to develop as much as 700 megawatts of offshore wind capacity 13 miles off the Rockaway Peninsula, a part of Long Island located in New York City.

The Long Island–New York City Offshore Wind Collaborative, which is developing the project, includes the power authority, Con Edison and several government entities.

“We must develop renewable sources of electricity,” said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  “Beginning the process of leasing the land beneath the ocean will get us closer to developing power from Long Island-New York City offshore wind farm, which when built, will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and promote economic development.”

The intended lease site includes approximately 64,500 acres of underwater land.  The application fee is $16,000 and, if the lease is awarded, the annual payments are expected to be about $200,000.

Last December, the Collaborative said that it would seek proposals from developers in the spring of 2010.  In a press release today, the Collaborative said only that it is “undertaking technical and environmental studies to determine the feasibility of developing the project” and will eventually “assign its lease rights to the project developer, selected through a competitive process.”

The collaborative is planning a 350 megawatt wind farm about 13 miles off the Rockaway Peninsula, a part of Long Island located in New York City.  The project is designed to eventually expand to 700 megawatts of capacity.  This week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave the project a vote of confidence while touring an offshore wind farm in Denmark.

“I don’t understand what there is to complain about … it’s very impressive,” Bloomberg said of the Danish facility, according to comments posted on the New York Times Web site.  “It gives you a feeling for what it will be, I hope, off the Long Island shore.”

The collaborative includes the Long Island Power Authority, Con Edison, the New York Power Authority, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

A request for information in July yielded about 30 responses from developers, according to the collaborative.  The 2010 request for proposals will seek a private development company who can build the project and secure a power purchase agreement to sell the power.