January 21, 2022 — The South Fork Wind energy project 35 miles east of Montauk, N.Y., won final approval Jan. 19 to begin construction, lining it up to be the second offshore wind turbine array in federal waters.
The federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management signed off on the construction and operations plan for South Fork, setting out a 1-nautical mile spacing between a dozen 11-megawatt Siemens-Gamesa turbines and some areas set aside in the federal lease area to preserve bottom habitat for marine species.
Installing monopile foundations and turbines is scheduled for summer 2023. The 132 MW project by developers Ørsted and Eversource is seen as a keystone by New York State energy planners for bringing future power to Long Island – potentially for 70,000 homes by the end of 2023 – as they look to even bigger projects offshore to feed the New York City metro area.
“This milestone underscores the tremendous opportunity we have to create a new industry from the ground up to drive our green energy economy, deliver clean power to millions of homes and create good jobs across the state,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement after the BOEM approval. “As we tackle climate change head on and transition to a clean economy, these are the projects that will power our future.”
BOEM and wind developers continue to face fierce resistance from the Northeast commercial fishing industry. In December the Texas Public Policy Institute filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of fishermen in New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, charging that BOEM bypassed requirements for environmental review when it approved the construction and operations plan for Vineyard Wind, the first wind project in federal waters to be built east of the South Fork tract.