The US’ first commercial offshore wind farm kicks off turbine construction

The US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has okayed the construction of turbines at the US’ first commercial offshore wind farm.

Now that the BSEE has completed its 60-day review of South Fork’s Facility Design Report and Fabrication and Installation Report and given the offshore wind farm the all-clear, wind turbine construction can start, and that’s expected to be completed this summer. (The BSEE conducted the review because in January, the DOI announced the transfer of regulations governing offshore renewable energy activities from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to the BSEE.)

The 132 megawatt (MW), 12-turbine offshore wind farm, which is being built by Danish wind giant Ørsted and New England energy company Eversource (a 50/50 partnership), will power around 70,000 New York homes when it comes online at the end of 2023.

It’s about 35 miles east of Montauk Point, and it will deliver clean energy directly to the electric grid in East Hampton via a single transmission line – and that subsea export cable was installed just last week. The energy produced will be sold to the Long Island Power Authority under the terms of a 20-year agreement. 

Ørsted and Eversource are paying for building, operating, and maintaining South Fork. The wind farm will also feature the first US-made offshore wind energy substation. 

Wind turbine installation at the US’ first commercial offshore wind farm marks a major milestone in the US goal to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030. The Biden administration released its first offshore wind energy strategy for that deployment last week.

Read more: The world saw a record 9.6% growth in renewables in 2022

Photo: Orsted

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