Officials celebrate the completion of South Fork Wind offshore wind farm

Federal and state officials celebrated a major milestone last week with the completion of the South Fork Wind offshore wind project located off the coast of Long Island.

All 12 turbines for the 130-megawatt wind farm, located 35 miles off the coast of Montauk, have been installed. It is now delivering clean power to the local Long Island electric grid. At full capacity, the approximately 130-megawatt wind farm will generate enough energy to power approximately 70,000 homes. The renewable energy from the wind farm will eliminate up to six million tons of carbon emissions over the life of the project.

“When I broke ground on the South Fork project, I made a promise to build a cleaner, greener future for all New Yorkers,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “I’m keeping to that promise and South Fork Wind is now delivering clean energy to tens of thousands of homes and businesses on Long Island. With more projects in the pipeline, this is just the beginning of New York’s offshore wind future and I look forward to continued partnership with the Biden Administration and local leaders to build a clean and resilient energy grid.”

Hochul was on hand at a ceremony to mark the occasion along with United States Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, as well as other elected officials.

“Every day, the Interior Department is answering President Biden’s call and moving rapidly to create a robust and sustainable clean energy economy that creates jobs, boosts local economies and helps address environmental justice,” Haaland said.

Approved in 2017, construction on South Fork Wind began in February 2022. The wind farm reached its “steel in the water” milestone in June 2023 with the installation of the project’s first monopile foundation, and its final turbine was installed in February.

The project was developed by Orsted and Eversource, while Haugland Energy Group served as the contractor.

“From the first steel in the water to the final turbine, our hard-working offshore wind construction team has put South Fork Wind on the path to making American energy history. We’re incredibly proud of our dedicated project, permit and construction teams, and all those who have made this milestone possible. We’re thankful, too, for the tremendous leadership of the Biden and Hochul administrations, and for the steadfast support of the East Hampton community and beyond,” Orsted Group EVP and CEO Americas David Hardy said.

South Fork Wind is America’s first utility sale offshore wind farm, according to officials.

“We’re incredibly proud to complete South Fork Wind, the country’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm in federal waters. Thanks to the local union workers and contractors who helped us build South Fork Wind’s transmission system and onshore substation, clean energy is flowing to the Long Island grid. Building South Fork Wind was a true regional effort and couldn’t have been realized without the support and investment in ports at ProvPort in Rhode Island and the New London State Pier in Connecticut,” Eversource Energy Chairman, President and CEO Joe Nolan said.