New York Completes First Utility-Scale Offshore Wind Farm in the U.S.

The U.S.'s first large offshore wind farm has completed construction (Orsted)

PUBLISHED MAR 14, 2024 4:08 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Elected officials in New York State joined with industry leaders and Ørsted and its partners to mark the completed construction of South Fork Wind. The 132 MW project is considered to be the United States’ first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. The offshore work was completed in approximately nine months with 12 turbines and is being hailed as a symbol of what is going to be coming to the U.S. clean energy industry.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate the completion of the South Fork project,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “Today is further proof that America’s clean energy transition is not a dream for a distant future – it’s happening right here and now.”

With all 12 of South Fork Wind’s turbines installed, the wind farm is delivering power to the local Long Island electric grid while commissioning is in its final stage. At full capacity, the wind farm, which is located roughly 35 miles off the coast of Montauk at the eastern tip of Long Island will generate enough renewable energy to power approximately 70,000 homes and will eliminate up to six million tons of carbon emissions over the 20-year life of the project.?

First approved by the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Board of Trustees in 2017, South Fork Wind began construction in February 2022, beginning with the onshore export cable system that links the project to the Long Island electric grid. The wind farm reached its “steel in the water” in June 2023 with the installation of the project’s first monopile foundation, and its final turbine was installed in February.?

The project was supported from Ørsted and Eversource’s fabrication hub at ProvPort, in Rhode Island. Its crew vessels and crew change helicopter are based out of Quonset Point, Rhode Island, helping to establish the wind port and support facilities for the industry.

The project was less impacted by the pressures that emerged in the industry as it was already underway and had lined up the supply chain. However, one of the two partners, Eversource has already agreed to sell its stake in the project to private investors. Eversource Energy, the operator of New England’s largest energy delivery system, reported that it decided to exit the offshore wind sector to focus on its operations as a regulated transmission builder and operator. In addition to South Fork, it invested in the planned Revolution Wind site that will power Connecticut and Rhode Island. 

Eversource has agreed to sell all its offshore wind portfolio to Global Infrastructure Partners, which in turn is being acquired by BlackRock, one of the world’s largest private asset managers. The deal demonstrates the growing interest from the private investment sector for wind power assets and Eversource expects to realize $1.1 billion of cash proceeds for the deal.

Onshore the U.S. has developed a wind energy portfolio but only Block Island Wind completed in 2016 has been built so far offshore. It was a small project consisting of five turbines and 30 MW capacity. South Fork becomes the largest offshore wind project completed in the U.S. but Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners have construction underway on the larger 806 MW Vineyard Wind, which began generating its first power at the beginning of the year.

The U.S. offshore wind sector is now moving into the construction phase. Several projects, including Dominion’s wind farm off the coast of Virginia, are due to begin construction this year. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management also highlights that it is moving forward with the review process for more projects toward the U.S. goal of 30 GW of offshore energy by 2030.

 

Empire Wind is First Wind Farm to Get FERC Approval for NYC Interconnect

Empire Wind 1 continues to reach milestones as it moves toward its financial investment decision by mid-2024 (Equinor)

PUBLISHED MAR 13, 2024 8:01 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Equinor reports that its proposed New York wind project Empire Wind has become the first offshore wind farm to gain Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval to connect directly to the New York City transmission system. It is the latest in a series of milestones to move the project toward construction and delivering first power by 2026.

The company is calling it a key step that marks the culmination of a years-long process. They were working with New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) engineers for the planning of power transmission grids and Con Edison, New York’s power company. 

FERC’s approval allows the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project to connect through the Sunset Park Onshore Substation at South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into the New York City electrical grid. The connection will be at Con Edison’s Gowanus substation making it possible to deliver 810 megawatts of power from offshore into the city’s power supply.

It is the latest step to get the project back on track. Equinor recently acquired full ownership of the project splitting its joint venture with BP and successfully rebid the project in New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation. Last year, the company moved to abandon the previous power purchase agreement which they said was no longer economic due to increased costs and which threatened to derail the project. Announced as a provision winner on February 29, they now need to reach a new power purchase agreement which is expected to be executed in the second quarter of this year.

 

The connection will be at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal which will become the wind port for the project (Equinor)

 

Empire Wind will be located 15 to 30 miles southeast of Long Island and spans 80,000 acres. It will be built in an area with water depths between approximately 75 and 135 feet. The project is split into two phases, Empire 1 which is nearing its final investment decision in mid-2024, which would provide 810 MW, and an earlier stage proposal for Empire Wind 2 which would provide an additional 1,260 MW.

They acquired the lease for the site in 2017 and with the FERC approval now have most of its permitting completed. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved the Construction and Operations Plan last month and New York issued the environmental compliance certificate in December 2023.

Equinor reports it will use project financing, with the financial close anticipated by the end of 2024. They are also planning to bring in a new partner who would share the costs and exposure of the project.

A key element of the plan also calls for the redevelopment of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, a 73-arce site. They are calling it the largest dedicated port facility for offshore wind which will support the staging and assembly of the wind turbine components. They also plan to use it as the homeport for the first plug-in hybrid Service Operations Vessel (SOV) to support the operations and maintenance of the wind farm.