South Fork Wind, New York's first offshore wind farm, has achieved first "steel in the water" with the installation of the project's first monopile foundation.
In the coming days, South Fork Wind will install the project's U.S.-built offshore substation. The project remains on-track to become America's first utility-scale offshore wind farm to be completed in federal waters when it begins operations by the end of this year.
Once complete, the 12-turbine, 130MW wind farm will generate enough renewable energy to power roughly 70,000 homes, eliminating up to six million tons of carbon emissions, or the equivalent of taking 60,000 cars off the road annually over a 25-year period.
The project is a 50/50 partnership between Ørsted and Eversource. It is one of five offshore wind projects New York State has in active development, the largest portfolio in the US with a total of over 4,300MW. Achieving the state's 9,000MW by 2035 goal will generate enough offshore wind energy to power approximately 30% of New York State's electricity needs, equivalent to nearly six million New York State homes.
Boskalis' offshore installation vessel Bokalift 2 is transporting and installing the foundations.