The South Fork Wind farm, New York State’s first offshore wind farm and the first utility-scale offshore project in the United States, has passed a milestone with installation of the first monopile foundation at the wind farm’s site, around 35 miles off Montauk Point.
The wind farm’s offshore substation will be installed atop the monopile foundation. The installation marks the start of the final construction phase of the 12-turbine, 130-megawatt wind farm. Onshore construction in East Hampton Town was completed last month. Installation of the 12 turbine foundations, and finally of its Siemens-Gamesa 11-megawatt wind turbine generators, will follow. The wind farm is scheduled to be operational by year’s end.
South Fork Wind’s developers, Orsted and Eversource Energy, say that the wind farm will generate electricity sufficient to power around 70,000 average-size residences while eliminating up to six million tons of carbon emissions, or the equivalent of taking 60,000 cars off the road annually for 25 years.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who with United States Interior Secretary Deb Haaland participated in a ceremonial groundbreaking at LTV Studios in Wainscott in February 2022, announced the installation of the first monopile foundation last Thursday. “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,” the governor said in a statement. “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.”
“This year the Town of East Hampton is celebrating its 375th anniversary,” Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said in the same news release. “We are proud of our past history and proud of the part we’re playing in making history by being the host community for New York’s first offshore wind farm. This latest construction milestone brings this important project another step closer to providing up to 70,000 homes with clean, renewable energy and helping us to further reduce the causes of climate change.”
South Fork Wind is one of five offshore wind projects in development in the state. When fully operational, they are to generate more than 4,300 megawatts and power the equivalent more than 2.4 million residences. As part of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the Legislature set a goal of 9,000 megawatts by 2035, which would represent around 30 percent of the state’s electricity needs, equivalent to powering almost 6 million residences.
Throughout construction, the wind farm’s developers have emphasized the participation of local union members, including ironworkers, pile drivers, divers, operating engineers, electricians, laborers, and other members of the building trades, as well as the positive economic impacts of creating a new industry.
The Long Island Power Authority selected South Fork Wind in 2017 after a 2015 request for proposals to address the East End’s energy needs.
