America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm has officially opened, marking a long-awaited moment that paves the way for a series of large-scale wind farms.
Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and utility company Eversource have built a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk Point, New York. New York Governor Kathy Hochul visited Long Island on Thursday and announced that the turbines are providing clean electricity to the local power grid. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland also attended.
Hochul said they flipped a switch that turned on the future.
Achieving commercial scale is a turning point for the industry, but what’s next? Experts say the country needs a massive build-up of this kind of clean power to combat climate change.
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Offshore wind power is central to national and state plans to transition to carbon-free electricity systems. The Biden administration has approved six commercial-scale offshore wind projects and auctioned off offshore wind lease areas for the first time on the Pacific and Gulf Coasts. Last month, New York state selected two more projects that will provide power to more than 1 million homes.
Hochul says this is just the beginning. She said the completion of Southfork shows New York state will aggressively pursue climate change solutions to save future generations from a world that could otherwise become dangerous. . Southfork will generate 132 megawatts of offshore wind energy, capable of powering more than 70,000 homes.
“It’s great to be the first. We don’t want to be the last. That’s why we’re showing other states how it can be done and why we’re moving forward with other projects. ” Hochul told The Associated Press. The press gave an exclusive interview before the announcement.
“This is a day and time for people to look back on our country’s history and say, ‘This is a different time,'” Hochul added.
Ørsted CEO Mats Knipper said the opening demonstrates the ability to build large-scale offshore wind farms, not only in the United States but also in other countries that currently have little or no offshore wind energy. He said it was a big milestone to prove.
With the completion of South Fork, Ørsted and Eversource are turning their attention to work starting this spring to build a wind farm more than five times the size offshore. Revolution Wind will be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in Rhode Island and Connecticut, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes next year. The location where the cable will connect in Rhode Island is already under construction.
Pictured above are the Southfork Wind Farm turbines that first became operational on Thursday, December 7, 2023. America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is now operational. (AP Photo/Julia Nickinson)
New York State announced last month that it would negotiate a contract with Ørsted and Eversource for an even larger wind farm called Sunrise Wind that would provide power to 600,000 homes. Norwegian company Equinor has been selected for his Empire Wind 1 project, which will power more than 500,000 homes in New York. Both companies aim to start supplying electricity in 2026.
After years of planning and development, 2024 will be the year of action. We will build projects that will deliver significant amounts of clean electricity to the grid, said David Hardy, Orsted’s group executive vice president and Americas CEO.
Danish oil and gas company Ørsted, formerly DONG Energy, began aggressively building wind farms in 2008 off the coasts of Denmark, the UK and Germany. The company sold the North Sea oil and gas assets on which it had built its identity. Focused on clean energy, Ørsted. It is now one of the largest wind power development companies.
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The first offshore wind farm in the United States was to be a project off the coast of Massachusetts known as Cape Wind. A Massachusetts developer proposed the project in his 2001 year, but the plan failed after years of local opposition and litigation.
The turbines began spinning off in 2016 as a pilot project on Block Island, Rhode Island. However, with only five turbines, it is not a commercial-scale wind farm.
Last year brought challenges to the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, as Mr. Ørsted and other developers canceled projects in the Northeast, saying they were no longer financially viable. As developers sought to open America’s first large-scale offshore wind farm, high inflation, supply chain disruptions and rising costs of capital and construction materials were driving up prices for the project.
Industry leaders expect 2024 to be a better year as interest rates fall and states seek to build more offshore wind power to meet climate goals.
The nation’s second largest offshore wind farm, Vineyard Wind, is also scheduled to open off the coast of Massachusetts later this year. His first five turbines power approximately 30,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts. When all 62 turbines spin, they can generate enough electricity to power 400,000 homes and businesses. Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners are co-owners of that project.
The Biden administration wants enough offshore wind power to power 10 million homes by 2030. “America’s transition to clean energy is not a distant dream, it’s happening here now,” said Secretary of the Interior Haaland.
