US Gets Its First Commercial-Scale Offshore Wind Farm

March 15, 2024, by Adnan Memija

Construction has been completed and all twelve wind turbines have been powered up at the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the US, the 132 MW South Fork Wind. The project has started delivering power to Long Island and the Rockaways, offshore New York, with commissioning in its final stage.

“When I broke ground on the South Fork project, I made a promise to build a cleaner, greener future for all New Yorkers. I’m keeping to that promise and South Fork Wind is now delivering clean energy to tens of thousands of homes and businesses on Long Island,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

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At full capacity of 132 MW, the offshore wind farm will generate enough renewable energy to power approximately 70,000 homes.

The renewable energy is generated approximately 35 miles (about 56 kilometres) off the coast of Montauk and will eliminate up to six million tonnes of carbon emissions over the life of the project, the equivalent of taking 60,000 cars off the road for the next 20 years.

The South Fork Wind began construction in February 2022, beginning with the onshore export cable system that connects the project to the Long Island electric grid.

The wind farm reached its “steel in the water” milestone in June 2023 and the project’s offshore substation was installed at the site a month later.

The wind turbine components started arriving in New London around the same time with Van Oord’s installation vessel Aeolus installing the first unit at the end of November. A month later, the offshore wind farm delivered its first power to the grid.

The final Siemens Gamesa 11 MW wind turbine was installed in February 2024.

“Thanks to the local union workers and contractors who helped us build South Fork Wind’s transmission system and onshore substation, clean energy is flowing to the Long Island grid. Building South Fork Wind was a true regional effort and couldn’t have been realized without the support and investment in ports at ProvPort in Rhode Island and the New London State Pier in Connecticut,” said Joe Nolan, Eversource Energy Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Currently owned by Ørsted and Eversource, the offshore wind farm will soon see a change in ownership as Eversource Energy is in the process of selling its 50 per cent stake in South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind projects to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), but will maintain its previously announced tax equity investment in South Fork Wind. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2024.