The Empire offshore windfarm hopes to become the first of its kind to be connected to the New York City grid once completion is reached in 2027. This according to a press release by the developer Equinor who stated that they have secured finding of US$ 3 Billion. Another project gunning for the spot is the much smaller Sunrise wind project. The recent financial investment by Equinor that could reach up to $5 billion will hopefully see to the start of plant operation in 2027 according to their press release. This will also include the supply of power to about half a million households in New York. Construction of the 80,000 acres Empire Wind 1 project in the southeast of Long Island already begun.
Equinor made acquisition of the lease area for the wind energy project in 2017. This closely followed up with the completion of the execution of the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) in 2024. The PSA was with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and therein included a 25-year investment for the wind energy project for $155/Mwh.
The just announced financial investment milestone is set to make Empire Wind 1 – wholly owned and operated by Equinor – the first offshore wind project to connect to New York City power grid. Jens Økland, the acting executive VP for Renewable in Equinor expressed optimism in the project, terming the recent announcement “an important milestone”. He also implied that the project will now go into “full execution mode”. With such reassurances from top officials, the wind energy project’s prospects are definitely “too green” to go off-rail.
The Empire Wind Project
The Empire Wind project is being implemented in 2 phases. Phase 1 will have a capacity of 810 MW while phase 2 will be a notch higher at 1.2GW. Equinor and BP had come together for a 50% share consideration in 2022 for the former’s wind energy assets. This changed in April 2024 after a “cash-neutral swap transaction” saw to the full ownership of Empire Wind lease and projects to Equinor; while BP had an equivalent full share of Beacon Wind lease and projects.
Empire Wind project will have more than 130 wind turbines installed on its lease area, and this will see to the production of about 2.1 GW of renewable energy. The wind turbine generators will be supplied by Vestas. The 138 V236 generators will each produce around 15MW, cumulatively totaling to about 2GW. The generators by Vestas have the following specifications: 774 feet rotor diameter, 886 feet in height, and a sweep area spanning 463,000 square feet.
Upon energy generation, a dedicated offshore wind port – the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) – will house an electrical substation for the the Empire Wind project. It will convert the high voltage energy generated to the optimal voltage for household use. The 73 acres SMBT will also serve as Equinor’s wind energy project maintenance base, alongside being the assembly site for the project and other offshore wind projects in New York.
Project factsheet
Project: Empire Wind
Developer: Equinor
Contractors: Vestas, Maersk, Marmen Welcon, Nexans, Prysmian Group, DEME, Marine Contractors, Kirby, COWI
The tier 1 contractors offer a wide range of services including, onshore construction services, consultant services, manufacturing and fabrication services, specialist services, among others. As part of benefit to the community, the project will also see to the employment of around 1,000 persons in the mentioned facilities and construction zones.
Also read: New York and New Jersey set to join Maryland in east coast offshore wind projects
Also read: A look at the upcoming 240 MW Rich Road Energy Center in New York
