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After years of hindered progress, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) has reached an agreement with Deepwater Wind, LLC to build the nation’s largest wind farm off the coast of Long Island.

 

As conventional power plants become increasingly scarce, states have begun to look for alternative forms of generating power. Wind turbines have been built on land for millennia, and though it is cheaper and less complicated to build them on land, developers have been expanding out to sea, along with the country’s coasts, with the hope of catching some of the strongest wind resources in the world. The East Coast, in particular, possesses great opportunity due to its strong wind and shallow waters.  These conditions are ideal because they allow the turbines to operate out of sight, farther out to sea where the wind is stronger and they are able to generate more power.

 

Deepwater Wind is the developer responsible for the $300 million Block Island Wind Farm, the nation’s first offshore wind farm, off the coast of Rhode Island. The Block Island Wind Farm is a five-turbine, 30-megawatt farm that powered up in December 2016. Installation of the wind farm faced several challenges including weather and construction schedules, but the five turbines were installed in 16 days. Power there is transferred from the turbines via long submarine cables buried under the ocean floor, connecting Block Island to the mainland grid for the first time. The farm helps to reduce Block Island’s electricity rates and diversify Rhode Island’s power supply.

 

The new $740 million project (originally estimated to be $1 billion) entitled the South Fork Wind Farm will be located 30 miles off the coast of Montauk. It will be equipped with 15, 600-foot turbines—triple the size of the Block Island project. Submarine cables roughly 50 miles long will connect the turbines to a substation in East Hampton with the intention of generating all the town’s electricity from the farm by 2020. The turbines will produce approximately 90 megawatts of the cleanest energy - enough to power 50,000 average homes on Long Island’s South Fork. The LIPA has purchased all of the South Fork Wind Farm’s energy output for the next 20 years.

“The South Fork Wind Farm will not only help the Long Island Power Authority reach its goal of adding 280 megawatts of renewable capacity, and help the Town of East Hampton accomplish its goal of moving to 100 percent renewable energy, but it will also help defer the need to build costly new energy infrastructure on [the] East End, saving money for all Long Island ratepayers," said a representative from Deepwater Wind.

 

Technological advancements over the last decade have allowed the cost of offshore wind to decrease, making the South Fork Wind Farm one of the most cost-effective energy sources in the world.

 

The South Fork Wind Farm, which will not be visible from Montauk Point, resides within a 256-square-mile parcel capable of housing 200 turbines that the developer is leasing from the federal government.  Previous proposals for other offshore wind farms such as the Cape Wind project (a massive 130-turbine farm off the coast of Cape Cod) failed when locals, like fossil-fuel billionaire Bill Koch, complained that the colossal machinery would tamper with their scenic ocean view.

 

The South Fork Wind Farm is one part of the Clean Energy Standard (CES), put in place by Governor Andrew Cuomo.  The CES is “designed to fight climate change, reduce harmful air pollution, and ensure a diverse and reliable low carbon energy supply.” Governor Cuomo committed to adding an additional 2.4 gigawatts of offshore wind energy to assist in fulfilling his goal of having 50 percent of New York’s energy come from renewable resources by 2030.

 

In states like Texas, wind farms generate so much energy that companies like TXU Energy are giving away free power. TXU offers a free overnight plan, in which energy consumers pay one simple rate during the day, and free power between the hours of 10 P.M. and 6 A.M. By moving some electricity usage to evenings, like running the dishwasher or putting on the air-conditioner, customers can save on their monthly bill.

 

Other countries are also making the transition from traditional fossil fuels to more eco-friendly renewable energy sources. Since pioneering it in the 1970s, Denmark has been the global leader in wind energy production. In 2015, 42 percent of the country's energy was generated by the wind. The United Kingdom is also a leader in wind energy production and home to the largest wind farm in the world, the London Array. This massive wind farm houses 175 turbines capable of producing 630 megawatts of power.

 

Many New Yorkers support the project as it will help shift the nation’s electric system from fossil fuels to more renewable energy sources. Others await the jobs anticipated to come along with the installation of the turbines.  

 

The Block Island farm provided work to approximately 300 local workers, and “the South Fork Wind Farm will create hundreds of jobs for Long Islanders,” said Meaghan Wims, a public relations representative for Deepwater Wind, LLC.

 

Like the others, though, the South Fork Wind Farm does face some opposition. Local fishermen argue that the turbines, which are attached to the seafloor, will affect fishing, therefore disrupting their business.

 

“We’re not anti-wind farm, but we don’t want to trade one renewable resource- fish- for another one-wind. They can both exist”  said Joe Gilbert, a member of the board of the Fisheries Survival Fund, one of a dozen groups around the northeast coast that oppose the development of these wind farms.

 

“The location is definitely a concern, because of the fishery that takes place there. The draggers do a lot of fluking there. They do a lot of yellowtail flounder there. It’s a very important place for sports fishermen, too— it’s really the only place that still has cod consistently” said Chris Scola, a scallop fisherman in Montauk, in an interview with 27East.com.

 

Officials at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which leased the site of the South Fork Wind Farm to Deepwater Wind, LLC, have spent years searching for areas suitable for wind power development while also developing specific regulations that protect the marine life in those areas.

 

“We are confident that fishing and offshore wind can co-exist in the ocean,” said Jeff Grybowski, CEO of Deepwater Wind LLC.   “We’re now beginning our multi-year permitting process for the South Fork Wind Farm, and a crucial part of that process will be conversations with Long Island’s commercial and recreational fishing communities.”

 

The company plans to hire an independent fishing representative to allow them to better communicate with members of the local fishing fleet.  

 

The specific positions of the turbines and electrical lines are still undetermined so Deepwater Wind LLC must now begin mapping out what location works best for each turbine. Once a plan is developed, the company is able to begin the state and federal permit process. The farm is expected to begin construction by 2020, but Deepwater Wind declined to comment as to how long it would take for the project to be completed.