The state of New York recently launched a project to transform the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) into one of the USA’s largest dedicated offshore wind ports.
The ceremony was held at the project’s site on Sunset Park Waterfront, a neighbourhood on the western Brooklyn waterfront. It was graced by New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, and Congressman, Dan Goldman (NY-10).
The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYSERDA) President and CEO, Doreen Harris, and the Executive Director of UPROSE, Elizabeth Yeampierre, were also present. Molly Morris, the President of Equinor Renewables Americas also attended the project’s groundbreaking ceremony.
The project was developed through a partnership between NYSERDA and Equinor. NYSERDA is a public-benefit corporation that serves as the official economic development organization for New York City. Formerly known as Statoil and StatoilHydro, Equinor on the other hand is a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger.
Implementation and scope of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) transformation project
Skanska AB will implement the project to transform the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) into one of the largest dedicated offshore wind ports in the USA, under a US$ 861 million contract awarded in Q1 2024.
Skanska is one of the world’s leading project development and construction groups active in Europe and North America regions. The company will leverage its civil infrastructure and building expertise in the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) transformation project.
The scope of the project includes the demolition of existing buildings and ground improvements to support the staging of the wind turbine components. In addition, it includes the installation of underground utilities, and upgrades to site lighting, security, and safety systems.
Furthermore, the project scope entails the installation of two new heavy-lift crane pads as well as significant waterfront and marine upgrades. The latter will comprise dredging of new and existing berths, bulkhead upgrades, and installation of new wharf and dock facilities.
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A new 85,000-square-foot operations and maintenance building with warehouse, office, and parking facilities will also be constructed at the 73-acre site. These will support the construction and ongoing operations and maintenance of the Empire Wind 1 project.
The purpose of the largest dedicated offshore wind port in the USA
The transformed SBMT will function as an essential infrastructure for the Empire Wind 1 project.
The latter is the first phase of a more than 2 GW project being developed by Equinor 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island. The entire project spans approximately 80,000 acres and has water depths of between 75 and 135 feet. The first phase has a proposed capacity of 810 MW while the second phase has a proposed capacity of 1,260 MW.
The new SBMT will facilitate the reception, storage, and pre-assembly of critical offshore wind turbine components for the entire Empire Wind Power Plant project. Additionally, the facility will serve as the operational and maintenance hub for the wind farm.
Furthermore, it will act as the point of interconnection to integrate power generated by the power plant into New York’s electricity grid at the Gowanus Substation in Brooklyn.
Above and beyond facilitating the construction and interconnection of the Empire Wind Power Plant, the SBMT is designed to be a central, scalable hub for the expansion of the East Coast offshore wind market.
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