Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) announced this week that Sunrise Wind, New York’s largest offshore wind farm, has kicked off construction.

Hochul said, “By breaking ground on Sunrise Wind and advancing the next wave of offshore wind projects, New York is passing a tremendous milestone to combat climate change.”

As Electrek reported on this post on June 24, the mature offshore wind project secured the final permit it needed from the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to start construction.

Its permitted construction and operations plan outlines the offshore wind farm’s one nautical mile wind turbine spacing, the requirements for the construction methodology for all work in federal ocean waters, and mitigation measures to protect marine habitats and species. 

The 924-megawatt (MW) Sunrise Wind will generate enough clean energy to power nearly 600,000 New York households. It’s around 30 miles east of Montauk Point, Long Island, and is expected to be operational in 2026.

The project was previously a 50-50 partnership between Ørsted and Eversource, but Ørsted finalized the acquisition of Eversource’s stake for $78 million last week.

Sunrise Wind’s team will now ramp up work on the onshore transmission system, and offshore construction will kick off later this year at the project site.

The offshore power export cable will come ashore at Smith Point County Park in Brookhaven, New York, and a new converter station and an expanded existing substation will be in Holbrook, New York.

New York’s largest offshore wind farm will create 800 direct New York jobs and thousands of indirect jobs. John R. Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, said, “Hundreds of local trade union men and women will have good-paying jobs building Sunrise Wind onshore and offshore. Moving this project forward will help power our grid and our regional economy.”

Sunrise Wind has finalized its agreements with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on a 25-year offshore wind renewable energy certificate (OREC) contract. It will help New York State achieve its 70% renewable electricity mandate by 2030.

The project previously canceled its contract, part of New York’s first offshore wind solicitation in 2019. Still, it reached viable power purchase agreements in February this year in the state’s fourth offshore wind solicitation. 

Read more: A major US offshore wind hub just broke ground in New York City

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