Friday 23 June 2023

Major Milestones For New York's First Offshore Wind Farm, On-Track to Become America's First Completed Utility-Scale Offshore Wind Project in Federal Waters. Supports the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act Goal to Develop 9,000 Megawatts of Offshore Wind by 2035

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that South Fork Wind, New York's first offshore wind farm, has achieved its "steel in the water" milestone with the installation of the project's first monopile foundation. In the coming days, South Fork Wind will install the project's U.S.-built offshore substation. The project remains on-track to become America's first utility-scale offshore wind farm to be completed in federal waters when it begins operations by the end of this year and supports the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goal to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035.

"New York is leading offshore wind development and building a green economy that will support hundreds of good-paying jobs and benefit generations to come," Governor Hochul said. "This progress on building the first utility-scale offshore wind project in the country cements New York as a national hub for the offshore wind industry."

Once completed, the wind farm will generate enough renewable energy to power roughly 70,000 homes helping New York meet its ambitious Climate Act goals, while eliminating up to six million tons of carbon emissions, or the equivalent of taking 60,000 cars off the road annually over a 25-year period. Hundreds of U.S. workers and three Northeast ports will support South Fork Wind's construction through late fall helping to stand up a new domestic supply chain that's creating hundreds of local union jobs across the Northeast.

First approved by the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) in 2017, South Fork Wind was selected under a 2015 request for proposals to address growing energy needs on the east end of Long Island.

Long Island Power Authority CEO Tom Falcone said, "Today marks a significant step in New York's clean energy journey and for LIPA's commitment to ensure a sustainable and resilient future for our customers. Years in the making, this project milestone signifies that our efforts are transforming from vision into reality. We are proud to be a part of this landmark project and will continue to lead and innovate in our pursuit of a sustainable future for Long Island and in the Rockaways."

NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said, "Putting steel in the water for New York's first offshore wind farm project is a major milestone in the development of this new, once in a generation industry in the United States, and represents the significant progress New York is making under Governor Hochul's leadership to transition our electricity system to clean, reliable renewable energy. The South Fork Wind project models how community engagement, strong private-public partnerships, and labor can ensure projects move forward in a way that results in significant economic benefits to our state while helping pave the way for a healthier, more resilient future."

Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said, "New York is advancing offshore wind under Governor Hochul's leadership to help meet our state's energy needs and help transition the state to a cleaner, greener future as part of our nation-leading climate agenda. The South Fork Wind project is a historic and transformative project that will help meet our aggressive greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements while ramping up renewable energy sources and combatting climate change."

Chair of the Public Service Commission Rory M. Christian said, "I applaud Governor Hochul's steadfast commitment to developing the clean energy supplies that New York State needs. This wind farm will play a key role in supplying much needed clean-energy on Long Island and helping New York achieve its nation-leading renewable energy goals."

Group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted David Hardy said, "South Fork Wind is now one giant step closer to meeting our mission to deliver renewable offshore wind energy to Long Island's East End. As we reach a milestone nearly a decade in the making, we're reflective of all those who have long championed this project in the East Hampton community, and beyond. The bold leadership of the Biden-Harris and Hochul administrations is putting New York and the nation on a path to a cleaner future. Thanks to American ingenuity, South Fork Wind is jumpstarting a new U.S. jobs engine and tackling climate change head-on."

Eversource Energy's President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Joe Nolan said, "Today marks a major milestone for South Fork Wind, and for the U.S. offshore wind industry as a whole, as we enter the project's final phases. South Fork Wind is on-track to become the nation's first completed utility-scale offshore wind farm in federal waters and will soon deliver enough clean, renewable energy to power nearly 70,000 homes. We are thankful to the Biden-Harris and Hochul administrations as well as the countless state and local supporters, without whom this critical project would not have been possible."

With today's milestone, South Fork Wind officially enters its wind turbine installation phase, the final construction period on the 12-turbine, 130-megawatt project. South Fork Wind launched in February 2022, beginning with the onshore export cable system. The project is one of five offshore wind projects New York State has in active development, the largest portfolio in the nation. This current portfolio totals more than 4,300 megawatts and will power more than 2.4 million New York homes, and it is expected to bring a combined economic impact of $12.1 billion to the state. The projects are also expected to create more than 6,800 jobs in project development, component manufacturing, installation, and operations and maintenance. Achieving the State's 9,000 megawatts by 2035 goal will generate enough offshore wind energy to power approximately 30 percent of New York State's electricity needs, equivalent to nearly 6 million New York State homes, and spur approximately 10,000 jobs.

New York local union members, including ironworkers, pile drivers, divers, operating engineers, electricians, laborers, and other members of the region's building trades are supporting the work offshore. Ørsted and Eversource in 2022 signed the National Offshore Wind Agreement with North America's Building Trades Unions, the labor organization representing more than three million skilled craft professionals. The partnership includes 15 International Union Presidents and their local affiliates and sets the bar for working conditions and equity, injects hundreds of millions of dollars in middle-class wages into the American economy, creates apprenticeship and career opportunities for communities most impacted by environmental injustice, and ensures projects will be built with the safest and best-trained workers in America. A first-of-its-kind in the United States, the National Offshore Wind Agreement (NOWA) covers all of Ørsted's contractors and subcontractors that will perform offshore wind farm construction.

During South Fork Wind's construction period this summer and fall at the project site roughly 35 miles east of Montauk, N.Y., construction and transport barges, tugboats, crew vessels, and protected special observer monitoring vessels will be active at the offshore construction site. Vessel and crane operators, boat captains and crew, engineers, welders, scientists, protected species observers and dozens of others are involved in this operation. Click here to learn more about how offshore wind farms are constructed.

An offshore installation vessel, Boskalis's Bokalift 2, is transporting and installing the foundations. South Fork Wind includes the first U.S.-built offshore wind substation. More than 350 U.S. workers across three states supported construction of this South Fork Wind substation, a topside structure that will collect the power produced by wind turbines and connecting it to the grid. New York union workers supported its installation offshore.

Advanced foundation components, built by union workers, will be transported to the site for installation. Finally, the wind farm's Siemens-Gamesa 11-megawatt wind turbine generators will be installed.

Once in operation, South Fork Wind will be supported by America's first offshore wind Service Operations Vessel, as well as U.S.-built crew transfer vessels.

Related Renewable Projects

• South Fork Wind Farm