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Forks up! South Fork Wind becomes the first completed utility-scale offshore wind farm in the United States

Forks up! South Fork Wind becomes the first completed utility-scale offshore wind farm in the United States
The first turbine is installed on South Fork Wind (Credit: Orsted)

New York officials have announced the completion of Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind project. All 12 offshore wind turbines have been constructed and the wind farm is delivering power to Long Island and the Rockaways, making it the first completed utility-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S.

The approximately 130-MW project is located roughly 35 miles off the coast of Montauk. The first turbine was installed in November 2023, and the farm first began delivering power to the grid in December 2023.

First approved by the LIPA Board of Trustees in 2017, South Fork Wind began construction in February 2022. The wind farm reached its “steel in the water” milestone in June 2023 with the installation of the project’s first monopile foundation.

This also follows Governor Kathy Hochul’s recent announcement of two offshore wind project awards, Empire Wind I and Sunrise Wind, for over 1,730 MW and $2 billion in near-term economic development investments.

South Fork Wind’s turbines were staged and assembled by local union workers at State Pier in New London, Connecticut. The project’s foundation components were completed by local union workers at Ørsted and Eversource’s fabrication hub at ProvPort, in Rhode Island. Its crew vessels and crew change helicopter is based out of Quonset Point, Rhode Island. South Fork Wind includes the first U.S.-built offshore wind substation, built by more than 350 U.S. workers across three states, with New York union workers supporting its installation offshore.

In February, Eversource announced it executed a definitive agreement to sell its 50% ownership share in South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), following increased costs and economic uncertainty across the offshore wind industry.

In October 2023, the New York State Public Service Commission denied petitions filed by a group of offshore wind developers and a state renewable energy trade association seeking billions of dollars in additional funding from consumers for four proposed offshore wind projects and 86 land-based renewable projects. In denying financial relief, the Commission said it opted to preserve the bidding process that provides renewable energy resources to New York most fairly and cost-effectively.

The petitions denied were submitted by Empire Offshore Wind LLC and Beacon Wind LLC, Sunrise Wind LLC, and the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, Inc. (ACENY). The petitions were seeking an adjustment to Renewable Energy Credit (REC) and Offshore Wind REC (OREC) purchase and sales agreements entered with NYSERDA to address recent inflationary pressures that are impacting project economics. Following this decision, the general terms of an expedited offshore wind renewable energy solicitation in New York were released, but a primary condition for Sunrise Wind to participate in the solicitation was to agree to terminate its existing OREC agreement, Eversource said.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.