New York energy officials said they won’t immediately press ahead with a second offshore wind round despite last week being given the all-clear by regulators to seek up to 2.5GW.

The New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which runs energy policy for the state – the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in the US – said “issuing a near term solicitation would not be responsible nor advisable at this time”.

The procurement round – which is set to be the largest yet seen in the US – was originally expected to kick off this later this year and would cement New York’s status as America’s offshore wind pacesetter as it seeks up to 9GW by 2035.

A statement said: “While NYSERDA fully supports and is poised to execute on this authorisation, based on industry input and a careful assessment of New York’s Covid-19 status, we feel that issuing a near term solicitation would not be responsible nor advisable at this time.

“Given the dynamic nature of the situation, NYSERDA is closely monitoring the ongoing crisis to determine the best time to issues this solicitation in coordination with a $200m opportunity to upgrade New York’s ports.”

New York held its first offshore wind procurement round last year when a joint venture of Orsted and Equinor, and Norwegian oil group Equinor shared almost 1.7GW in the largest single US tendering yet.