South Fork Wind Farm

South Fork Wind Farm is the United States' first utility-scale offshore wind farm. It is located on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore Rhode Island and providing power to New York state.

The 132 MW, 12-turbine wind farm is located southeast of Rhode Island's Block Island and east of Montauk Point on the South Fork of New York's Long Island. The wind farm is expected to generate electricity equivalent to that consumed by 70,000 Long Island homes use in a year and offset 300,000 tons of carbon emissions each year. The turbines are Siemens Gamesa 11.0-200 DD machines, meaning each turbine will have a capacity of 11.0 MW and a diameter of 200 meters. The substation is the first of its kind built in the United States, by Kiewit Offshore Services, Ltd. The wind farm was built by Ørsted US Offshore Wind in conjunction with Eversource and approved by the Long Island Power Authority, a not-for-profit public utility company serving Long Island and Rockaway, Queens. The project is a section of Wind Energy Area (WEA) OCS-A 0486 (North Lease). The wind farm connects to the power grid through an underwater export cable to East Hampton, New York.

Though the lease was approved by Long Island Power Authority in 2017, construction of South Fork Wind did not began until February 2022. Power from the first turbine began being delivered to the grid on December 6, 2023. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the completion of the project on March 14, 2024, at an event with international renewable energy leaders.

Development timeline

On September 12, 2013, BOEM awarded two commercial offshore wind energy leases, OCS-A-0486 and OCS-A-0487, to Deepwater Wind New England LLC for development of a regional offshore wind energy project.

Deepwater Wind, the predecessor to Ørsted US Offshore Wind, originally proposed a 90-megawatt, 15-turbine wind farm in a 256 square miles area in 2013. Long Island Power Authority recommended the project for approval in July 2016, which was delayed at the request of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Regulatory approval for a 90 MW wind farm was granted in January 2017. The project was expanded to 132 megawatt capacity in 2018. Thomas Falcone, CEO of Long Island Power Authority, initially hoped to complete the contract in first quarter 2017 with construction beginning in 2019 and power generation starting in 2022. Energy generated at South Fork will power the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on the South Fork of Long Island, the latter of which has vowed to have 100 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources by 2030.

Ørsted US Offshore Wind acquired Deepwater Wind in 2019, and partnered with Eversource Energy to construct South Fork Wind. The project uses twelve Siemens Gamesa 11 MW turbines. Long Island Power Authority will purchase the electricity generated. NYSERDA has approved the project.

Lease Area

Location

The South Fork project BOEM Renewable Energy Lease Area OCS-A 0517 is located within federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), approximately 19 miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island, and 35 miles east of Montauk Point, New York. South Fork Wind's lease area is adjacent to Revolution Wind and nearby the proposed Vineyard Wind lease area.

History of the Lease Area

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act