Orsted, the Danish energy company that with Eversource Energy is developing the South Fork Wind farm, will write off as much as $5.6 billion, it was reported last week, and has canceled two offshore wind projects slated for waters off southern New Jersey.
Inflation, supply chain delays, and rising interest rates are blamed for the offshore wind developer’s woes in the United States, jeopardizing the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Nonetheless, the 12-turbine South Fork Wind farm remains on track to provide “green” electricity sufficient to power 70,000 average-size residences. Last week, the first Siemens Gamesa wind turbine generator, comprising preassembled tower sections, a nacelle, and three blades, each longer than a football field, was loaded onto a transport barge.
On Oct. 31, almost two years after construction began onshore and four months after installation of the first monopile foundation, the project’s final construction began when the barge left the Port of New London, Conn., bound for the wind farm site, around 35 miles off Montauk. Installation of the first turbine generator is expected imminently.
“South Fork Wind is a trailblazing project for American clean energy,” David Hardy, Orsted’s chief executive officer for the Americas, said in a Nov. 1 statement. “The upcoming installation of this first turbine has been nearly a decade in the making and will stand as a testament not just to our hardworking teams but also to all those who have long supported this historic project. We have busy weeks ahead, but we’re now closer to fulfilling the promise of clean energy for Long Island’s East End and the growth of a new industry for New York.”
