Equinor and BP Pick New York Offshore Wind Hub Construction Manager

February 8, 2023, by Adnan Memija

Equinor and BP have selected Skanska USA as the construction manager for the port upgrade of New York’s South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT).

South Brooklyn Marine Terminal; Image: Equinor

Port upgrades to redevelop SBMT were part of the Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1 project proposals Equinor and BP submitted in the 2021 offshore wind power solicitation in the State of New York, which selected the two projects in January of that year.

SBMT will provide crucial infrastructure for the construction site of the Empire and Beacon Wind projects, which will bring 3.3 GW of offshore wind power into New York.

Skanska’s initial involvement will be to provide pre-construction services.

SBMT will be equipped to receive, store, and pre-assemble key components for offshore wind turbines, serve as the operations and maintenance base for the wind farms and include a substation that will serve as the point of interconnection to link the power from Empire Wind 1 into the local power grid.

Once completed, the terminal will be one of the largest offshore wind hubs in the nation and will serve as a national model for creating an offshore wind energy hub. Construction is expected to begin in 2024.

“The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal will play an integral role in powering New York homes with offshore wind energy, while restoring the working waterfront of Sunset Park and creating renewable energy career opportunities. SBMT is at the heart of our offshore wind hub, and once completed, will become a leading port facility for offshore wind nationwide”, said Molly Morris, President of Equinor Wind US.

“Together, we will collaborate in seeking to lower emissions from construction and bringing communities as well as minority and women owned business enterprises (MWBEs) into the supply chain.”

Empire Wind 2 will provide a generation capacity of 1,260 MW and a further 1,230 MW will come from Beacon Wind 1.

Along with the two gigawatt-scale offshore wind farms, Equinor and BP are also developing the 816 MW Empire Wind Phase 1 wind farm which was selected in New York’s first-ever offshore wind solicitation in 2019.

The three wind farms are said to be capable of producing enough electricity to power about two million households.

Beacon Wind is located 60 miles (almost 97 kilometres) east of Montauk Point and 20 miles (32 kilometres) south of Nantucket. The lease was acquired in 2019 and has the potential to be developed with a total capacity of more than 2.4 GW.