The 130-MW South Fork Wind wind project off Long Island has installed its first monopile foundation, which will serve as the base for the upcoming installation of the first US-built offshore wind substation at the site in the coming days.
The “steel in the water” milestone for New York’s first offshore wind farm was announced on Thursday by the state’s governor Kathy Hochul.
The project is a partnership between Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) and Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES), which recently agreed a deal concerning their joint activities.
South Fork Wind is said to be on track to become the US’ first utility-scale offshore wind farm to be completed in federal waters when it starts operations by the end of 2023. It supports New York’s goal to have 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035. The wind farm will feature 12 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines of 11 MW each.
Boskalis’s vessel Bokalift 2 is transporting and installing the foundations. Construction of the project started in February 2022.
The 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project in the US also hailed “steel in the water” earlier this month.