South Fork Wind has shipped the first offshore wind turbine from the Port of New London, Connecticut, to the project’s offshore site, marking the start of the final construction phase for this historic, New York offshore wind farm.
The first of South Fork Wind’s 12 Siemens Gamesa wind turbine generators – pre-assembled tower sections; a nacelle; and three blades – was loaded onto a U.S.-flagged transport barge pulled by two U.S.-flagged tugboats destined for the project site 35 miles off Montauk, New York. The first turbine will be installed in the coming days.
Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind is making progress toward delivering clean offshore wind power to Long Island in 2023. Hundreds of U.S. workers and three Northeast ports have supported South Fork Wind’s construction, helping to stand up the foundations of a new domestic supply chain that’s creating local union jobs across the Northeast.
Once completed, the 130-MW offshore wind farm will generate enough renewable energy to power roughly 70,000 Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) customers.
“South Fork Wind is a trailblazing project for American clean energy,” said David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted. “The upcoming installation of this first turbine has been nearly a decade in the making and will stand as a testament not just to our hardworking teams but also to all those who have long supported this historic project. We have busy weeks ahead, but we’re now closer to fulfilling the promise of clean energy for Long Island’s East End and the growth of a new industry for New York.”
First approved by LIPA’s Board of Trustees in 2017, South Fork Wind began construction in February 2022, beginning with the onshore export cable system that links the project to LIPA’s energy grid. The wind farm reached its “steel in the water” milestone in June 2023 and has completed the onshore substation, and installation offshore of the turbine foundations, advanced foundation components, the first U.S.-built offshore wind substation, and the array and export cables that bring the power to shore.
Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel, the Aeolus, will install the turbines. Once in operations, South Fork Wind will be supported by U.S.-built crew transfer vessels and eventually by America’s first offshore wind Service Operations Vessel. The wind farm’s construction has already been served by the first helicopters supporting the U.S. offshore wind industry, based out of Quonset State Airport, Rhode Island.
News item from Ørsted
Filed Under: News, Offshore wind, Projects