Deepwater Wind Offers a Clean Energy Alternative

Clint Plummer, Vice President for Development for Deepwater Wind discussed the offshore wind industry and described the South Fork Wind Farm project at a meeting of the Long IsIand Regional Planning Council. The project is designed to generate 90 megawatts of clean power from wind turbines located off the South Fork and is an important project in this region’s efforts to create alternative, renewable energy sources. The Long Island Regional Planning Council has expressed support for the project, included in a letter of support to the Long Island Power Authority dated January 20, 2017.
 
Deepwater Wind is developing the project to be located 30 miles off Montauk. It would be New York State’s first off-shore wind farm and the largest off-shore facility in the nation. The project demonstrates our region’s strong commitment to clean energy and to taking a lead position in this growing industry by establishing a “local” hub for off-shore wind energy development and taking advantage of rapid advances in offshore turbine technology.
 
The project will help satisfy LIPA’s commitment to bring online additional megawatts of on-island renewable capacity to help meet the state’s clean energy goals (50% of energy from renewables and 2400 megawatts from off-shore wind by 2030). It will also provide early support to the Town of East Hampton’s long-term goal of achieving 100 percent renewable energy use by 2030 and increasing capacity on the South Fork.
 
The proposed 15 wind turbines will generate enough energy to power 50,000 homes, while reducing carbon emissions on Long Island by nearly 20 million metric tons over the project’s lifetime, according to the project’s sponsors. Electrical cables on land will be buried beneath existing roads, and the turbines will not be visible from Long Island’s beaches.
 
The $240 million project is currently in the early stages of development. The project’s sponsor has said that, depending on the schedule for permitting, construction could start as early as 2019 and the wind farm could be operational as early as 2022.
 
 
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Presentation: Deepwater Wind