Largest offshore wind project in US approved

The Board of Trustees of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) voted recently to approve the South
Fork Wind Farm, the largest offshore wind farm in the United States and the first in New York.

The 90-megawatt (MW) project will be located 30 miles southeast of Montauk and is the first step of a project to develop an area that will produce up to 1,000 MW of offshore wind power.

The approval comes two weeks after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a commitment to developing 2.4 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, enough to power 1.25 million homes.

“New York leads the nation in pioneering clean energy innovation, and this bold action marks the next step in our unprecedented commitment to offshore wind, as well as our ambitious long term energy goal of supplying half of all electricity from renewable sources by 2030,” Cuomo said. “This project will not only provide a new, reliable source of clean energy, but will also create high-paying jobs, continue our efforts to combat climate change and help preserve our environment for current and future generations of New Yorkers.”

The LIPA board approved a contract submitted by Deepwater Wind for the South Fork farm, as well as a 20-year pay-for-performance Power Purchase Agreement, which allows the utility to pay only for delivered energy without taking on construction or operating risk.