New York has awarded the largest offshore wind energy contracts in the US, with a total capacity of 1.7GW.

They are expected to help generate enough renewable electricity to power more than a million homes and create more than 1,600 jobs.

The announcement supports Governor Andrew M Cuomo’s mandate of 9GW of clean energy in New York by 2035.

The contract winners include the Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind development projects of Equinor US Holdings and Bay State Wind LLC, a joint venture of Ørsted and Eversource Energy.

So far, New York has awarded a total of around 4.7GW of new large-scale renewable energy contracts since March 2018.

Collectively, they are expected to provide clean power for up to two million households and meet nearly 10% of the state’s electricity needs by 2025.

Mr Cuomo said: “The environment and climate change are the most critically important policy priorities we face. They literally will determine the future – or the lack thereof. Even in today’s chaos of political pandering and hyperbole there are still facts, data and evidence – and climate change is an undeniable scientific fact. But cries for a new green movement are hollow political rhetoric if now combined with aggressive goals and a realistic plan on how to achieve them.

“With this agreement, New York will lead the way in developing the largest source of offshore wind power in the nation and today I will sign the most aggressive climate law in the United States of America. Today we are true to the New York legacy – to lead the way forward, to govern with vision and intelligence, to set a new standard and to match our words with action.”