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Sunrise Wind construction begins

August 9, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In mid-July, construction started on New York’s largest offshore wind project. Sunrise Wind is a 924-megawatt offshore wind farm located about 30 miles off the coast of Montauk Point on Long Island. Sunrise Wind is expected to be operating in 2026 and will provide enough clean energy to power nearly 600,000 homes, making it the largest offshore wind farm in the United States.

The ongoing construction project will support more than 800 direct jobs. It will be built under project labor agreements ensuring local union labor’s participation in all phases of construction.

Power from the wind farm will flow through an undersea cable coming ashore deep under the beach at Smith Point County Park. From there, the power will travel primarily under roadways via a transmission line terminating at a power converter station in Holbrook, Suffolk County.

Sunrise Wind is being developed by Oersted, the largest energy company in Denmark and the world’s largest developer of offshore wind power by number of built offshore wind farms.

The second large offshore wind farm in New York, Empire Wind I, is being developed by Equinor. These large wind farms are the result of New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation. The two projects, totaling over 1,700 megawatts, will be the largest power generation projects in New York State in more than 35 years once they enter operation in 2026.

New York has also launched a fifth offshore wind solicitation for which final proposals will be due in September. Offshore wind is a major component of New York’s effort to expand the use of clean energy, grow its green economy, and combat climate change.

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Construction begins on Sunrise Wind, New York’s largest offshore wind project

Photo, posted June 14, 2022, courtesy of Stephen Boutwell/BOEM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Last New York Coal Plant Closing | Earth Wise

April 13, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The last coal-fired power plant in New York State is closing. The plant, located in Barker, about an hour’s drive from Buffalo, employs 44 people. The plant’s closure is an early test of New York’s new climate law, which is one of the most ambitious in the country. The law is supposed to transform the state’s energy grid to carbon-free by 2040.

Coal plants across the country are going offline, priced out by natural gas and targeted by regulations and incentives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Coal plant closures bring common challenges: lost tax revenues and jobs as well as efforts to retrain workers and clean up sites. Every plant has a specific place in a community, and each community has its own story.

The new climate law is supposed to create thousands of new jobs, including high-paying union jobs like the ones the employees in Barker are losing. But jobs are scarce in the northwest corner of the state where Barker is located.

The state government has recently issued rules that would make it easier to get permission to build renewable energy sites, including wind turbines and solar farms, allowing applicants to bypass zoning rules and other local regulations. But residents of rural towns have environmental and aesthetic concerns about these potential new energy plants.

In 2010, the United States had 580 coal-fired power plants providing 45% of the country’s electricity. By March 2018, there were fewer than 350 plants and coal’s market share had dropped to 30%. At this point, there are about 224 plants producing 18% of the country’s power. The writing is on the wall for coal power.

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New York’s Last Coal-Fired Power Plant Is Closing

Photo, posted March 13, 2018, courtesy of Joed Viera via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.