Governor Hochul Announces Major Milestone for South Fork Wind with Installation of First Offshore Foundation at New York's First Offshore Wind Farm
Friday 28 July 2023
South Fork Wind Achieves the State's First Offshore Wind "Steel in the Water" with Installation of Foundation for U.S.-Built Offshore Substation
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.
With the 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.