Offshore

Construction begins on Sunrise Wind, New York’s largest offshore wind project

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Construction begins on Sunrise Wind, New York’s largest offshore wind project
New York's Sunrise Wind project will be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. to be connected to the grid using a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system. (Courtesy: Siemens Energy)

New York initiates fifth offshore wind solicitation

Governor Hochul announced the start of construction on New York’s largest offshore wind project, Sunrise Wind, a 924-MW project developed by Ørsted.

The Governor also announced the issuance of New York’s fifth offshore wind solicitation to advance the next wave of clean energy development projects off the state’s coast, with final proposals due on September 9, 2024.

“We’re growing New York’s green economy, building clean energy, and expanding economic opportunities for all New Yorkers,” Governor Hochul said. “By breaking ground on Sunrise Wind and advancing the next wave of offshore wind projects, New York is passing a tremendous milestone to combat climate change. These projects will create good-paying union jobs and demonstrate that New York is leading the nation to build the offshore wind industry.”

The Sunrise Wind project will support more than 800 direct jobs during the construction phase of the project, which is now officially underway. It will be built under project labor agreements ensuring local union labor’s participation in all phases of construction. Sunrise Wind will be located approximately 30 miles east of Montauk, New York, with an approved transmission route connecting to the State’s electricity grid at the Holbrook Substation in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County.

Last month, Governor Hochul announced the finalization of new contracts for Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind 1, a planned 810-MW project developed by Equinor, resulting from New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation. The two offshore wind projects, totaling over 1,700 MW, will be the largest power generation projects in New York State in more than 35 years once they enter operation in 2026.

Sunrise Wind has already completed all major federal and state permitting milestones and received approval of its Construction and Operations Plan (COP) from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on June 21, 2024.

The milestone builds on a series of offshore wind developments for the state in 2024, including the completion of the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the United States (Ørsted’s South Fork Wind) and a groundbreaking at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, which will support staging and assembly of offshore wind components and serve as an operations and maintenance hub for the Empire Wind 1 project.

In early 2024, 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. Eversource had previously said during Q3 2023 it identified “certain impacts” like increased construction costs and economic uncertainty that would require further adjustment to the carrying value of its offshore wind investments for the projects.

Then earlier this month, Eversource announced that it had completed the sale of its remaining 50% ownership share in Sunrise Wind to Ørsted. Gross proceeds of the transaction are $230 million, subject to spending adjustments between signing and closing, with 50% due at closing and the remaining balance paid upon the achievement of certain construction milestones.

New York’s fifth offshore wind solicitation

The announcement also included the launch of New York’s fifth offshore wind solicitation. The competitive solicitation, administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), includes provisions like inflation indexing, labor provisions, stakeholder engagement requirements, and disadvantaged community commitments.

Final proposals for the offshore wind projects are due by 3:00 p.m. ET on September 9, 2024. Interested proposers can apply on NYSERDA‘s website. A webinar will be held on July 22, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. ET to provide more information on the offshore wind solicitation and a future coordinated supply chain solicitation.