New York welcomes America’s first commercial-scale wind farm
In 1882, Thomas Edison lit up Manhattan with his power station on Pearl Street, kicking off New York’s history of energy firsts. Fast forward 140 years, and New York is once again entering a new era of clean power, completing America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm: South Fork Wind.
A joint venture between Ørsted and Eversource, South Fork Wind is a 12-turbine, 132 MW offshore wind farm powering ~70,000 Long Island homes. But the story of South Fork Wind goes beyond turbines, megawatts, and homes powered. It’s a story of union workers, engineers, and conservationists. A story of industry, investment, and laying the foundations for America’s offshore wind infrastructure.
Above all, it’s a New York story – a project by New Yorkers, for New Yorkers.
New York takes first place in offshore wind
With South Fork Wind, the Empire State is piling up national offshore wind firsts. The project features the country’s first American-built offshore substation, and is the first offshore wind farm to use an American-made and -crewed service operations vessel. To provide long-term support to South Fork Wind, New York is opening its first Operations & Maintenance center in East Setauket and a first offshore wind training center in Brentwood.
These clean energy firsts add up to more than just a single offshore wind farm. They’re paving the way to a renewably powered New York, one that can meet its clean energy goals while bringing jobs, training, and more resilient infrastructure to New Yorkers.
The first American-made service operations vessel, the Eco Edison, will support the operations and maintenance of our offshore wind projects in the Northeast
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As you might guess, New York has incredibly high energy demand. When I heard that we were getting our own offshore wind farm, I was super excited. I couldn’t be prouder that New York is leading the way on this.
Jessica James
Conservationist
Montauk, NY
Powering up the people and industries of New York
Boosting industry, locally and nationally
South Fork Wind has put New York’s offshore wind industry on the map, creating new business for local companies. Long Island’s Haugland Energy Group and Elecnor Hawkeye installed the project’s underground duct bank and onshore substation, and its onshore cables, respectively. Concrete mattresses were manufactured by Roman Stone, another Long Island company, and upstate manufacturer Ljungström fabricated steel parts for the project’s foundations.
And the business benefits of South Fork Wind – greater manufacturing, investment, and infrastructure – extend well beyond the Empire State. The project’s offshore substation was built in Texas, its export cable in South Carolina, and its foundation components in Rhode Island, while assembly happened in Connecticut. That’s nearly 1,000 jobs across 5 states supporting the build out of America’s offshore wind industry.
All 36 turbine blades used for South Fork Wind were marshalled at the New London State Pier in Connecticut
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Every trade in the community was involved. Linemen, electricians, laborers, operating engineers, tradesmen, everyone played a part in building South Fork Wind. It's a great accomplishment for Ørsted, Eversource, the Haugland Group, for every company that participated.
Matt Laub
Construction foreman
Wainscott, NY
Building South Fork Wind
Meet the people behind the turbines
Austin Seamount, Electrical Installation Engineer.
Aleshandra Fernandes, Ironworker.
Sean Johnson, Wind Turbine Technician.
These are just a few of the hundreds of New Yorkers behind South Fork Wind. They are ironworkers, engineers, electricians, and conservationists. They’re experienced construction workers, trade apprentices, and small business owners with family-sustaining jobs and training opportunities.
We could tell you that projects like South Fork Wind create thousands of long-term and temporary jobs. That offshore wind supports training programs, funds scientific research, and offers opportunities to underserved communities. But we’d rather you hear it from the people behind the turbines – the workers who’ve brought South Fork Wind to life.
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Ever since I was a little girl, I was always doing projects with my hands. These days I’m a local 361 ironworker, putting together monopiles for the offshore wind turbines that will power schools, hospitals – my whole community.
Aleshandra Fernandes
Ironworker
Southhampton, NY
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
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What is South Fork Wind?
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Who owns South Fork Wind?
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Where is South Fork Wind located?
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How much power does South Fork Wind produce?
