New York Greenlights Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 Transmission Facilities

February 14, 2025, by Adnan Memija

Equinor has been granted approval by the New York State Public Service Commission (NYPSC) to build and operate offshore and onshore transmission facilities for the 816 MW Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project.

The overall transmission line for the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project runs approximately 17.5 miles (about 28 kilometres) from the boundary of New York State waters to a point of interconnection in Brooklyn.

The phase approved on 13 February involves construction activities within Con Edison’s Gowanus substation property, including excavation and installation of duct banks, cable pulling, site restoration, and associated decommissioning.

The transmission project includes two 230-kV high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) submarine export cables within a 15.1-mile corridor, running from the New York State waters boundary to the cable landfall in Brooklyn. Additionally, it features a 0.2-mile onshore cable route and substation with two three-core 230-kV HVAC onshore export cables buried underground, connecting either directly to the cable terminations or to transition vaults at the proposed onshore substation.

Also, there will be an onshore substation located at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal that will increase the voltage to 345 kV for the onshore interconnection cables, and two 345-kV cable circuits, each with three single-core HVAC onshore interconnection cables, that will be buried underground from the onshore substation to the point of interconnection at the Gowanus 345-kV substation owned by the Con Edison.

Located 25-48 kilometres southeast of Long Island, the 816 MW offshore wind farm will comprise 54 Vestas 15 MW turbines.

The project was previously owned by Equinor and BP, but in January 2024, the companies reached an agreement to restructure the ownership of their joint venture offshore wind projects in the US, with Equinor taking full control of Empire Wind 1 and 2, and BP assuming full ownership of the 2.5 GW Beacon Wind project.

At the beginning of 2025, the developer secured a project financing package of over USD 3 billion and reached a financial close on Empire Wind 1.

The offshore wind farm is expected to produce first power in late 2026, with full commissioning in 2027.