Turn, Turn, Turn: First Offshore Wind Turbine in New York Goes Live - 27 East - 27east.com
Turn, Turn, Turn: First Offshore Wind Turbine in New York Goes Live - 27 East
Orstead and Eversource hosted a boat tour of South Fork Wind, New York's first offshore wind farm, on December 7. The first turbine went online on December 6. DANA SHAW Blades rest on a crane platform waiting to be attached at the South Fork Wind Farm. DANA SHAW John O'Leary is Deputy Secretary for Energy Governor Kathy Hochul's office speaks during the South Fork Wind tour on December 7. DANA SHAW State and local officials with representatives from Ørsted and Eversource at East Hampton Town Hall on December 6. KYRIL BROMLEY The South Fork Wind substation and a C-FIGHTER offshore tug and supply ship. DANA SHAW Suffolk County County Executive Steve Bellone during the boat tour of South Fork Wind on December 7. DANA SHAW David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted speaks at the press conference at East Hampton Town Hall on December 6. KYRIL BROMLEY State and local officials with representatives from Orsted and Eversource at East Hampton Town Hall on December 6. KYRIL BROMLEY Julia Bovey, Director of Offshore Wind External Affairs at Eversource Energy speaks during the tour of South Fork Wind on December 7. DANA SHAW
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.