Credit: NYSERDA

“New York’s nation-leading efforts to generate reliable, renewable clean energy have reached a major milestone,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul. “South Fork Wind will power thousands of homes, create good-paying union jobs and demonstrate to all that offshore wind is a viable resource New York can harness for generations to come.”

This milestone came two weeks after the installation of New York’s first offshore wind turbine. When complete, South Fork Wind will generate approximately 130 MW of renewable energy, enough to power approximately 70,000 Long Island homes.

“Today marks a significant step towards implementing Gov. Hochul’s vision of a sustainable and resilient energy future for New York,” said Thomas Falcone, Long Island Power Authority CEO. “Nearly eight years in the making, this first offshore wind turbine producing energy transforms that vision into a reality. LIPA is proud to support this landmark project on behalf of our 1.2 million customers on Long Island and in the Rockaways.”

First approved by the LIPA Board of Trustees in 2017, South Fork Wind began construction in February 2022, starting with the onshore export cable system that links the project to the LIPA energy grid, which was completed earlier this year. The wind farm reached its “steel in the water” milestone in June 2023 with the installation of the project’s first monopile foundation. Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel, the Aeolus, is installing the turbines.

South Fork Wind includes the first U.S.-built offshore wind substation. More than 350 U.S. workers across three states supported construction of this offshore substation, a topside structure that collects the power produced by wind turbines and connects it to the grid. New York union workers supported its installation offshore.

Long Island-based contractor Haugland Energy Group installed the underground duct bank system for South Fork Wind’s onshore transmission line and led the construction of the project’s onshore interconnection facility. LS Cable installed and jointed the onshore cables with support from Long Island’s Elecnor Hawkeye.

The onshore cable scope of work alone created more than 100 union jobs for Long Island skilled trades workers. Roman Stone, also on Long Island, manufactured concrete mattresses to protect the undersea cables, and Ljungstrom, located in western New York, in partnership with Riggs Distler & Company, provided specialized structural steelwork.

Today’s announcement builds on the governor’s announcement earlier this month, in which New York plans to make the largest state investment in renewable energy in U.S. history. The conditional awards included three offshore wind and 22 land-based renewable energy projects totaling 6.4 GW of clean energy, enough to power 2.6 million New York homes and deliver approximately 12% of New York’s electricity needs once completed.

When coupled with two marquee offshore wind blade and nacelle manufacturing facilities, this portfolio of newly announced projects is expected to create approximately 8,300 family-sustaining jobs and spur $20 billion in economic development investments statewide, including developer-committed investments to support disadvantaged communities.

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“Wind power is one of the cornerstones of the green energy transition. With more than 600 GW of new capacity to be installed worldwide in the next five years, it is important for the wind industry to reduce its carbon footprint. Our project to address emissions with greener steel is one such solution. With the launch of the GreenerTower, Siemens Gamesa leads the efforts to further push wind circularity and net-zero emissions,” says Maximilian Schnippering, Head of Sustainability at Siemens Gamesa.

Today, tower production accounts for more than one-third of all wind-turbine-related CO₂ emissions. If all towers installed by the company in one year were exchanged with GreenerTowers, it would be the same as removing more than 466,000 cars from the roads in Europe for a year. This new CO₂-reduced tower will be available as an option for both onshore and offshore wind turbines for projects to be installed from 2024 onward.

The GreenerTower has already closed its first order. RWE and Siemens Gamesa have agreed to introduce 36 GreenerTowers at the 1,000-MW Thor offshore wind power project in Denmark. In total, 72 SG 14-236 DD offshore wind turbines are planned to be installed starting in 2026.

Sven Utermöhlen, CEO RWE Offshore Wind, commented: “Offshore Wind already has one of the lowest life-cycle carbon footprints of power generation technologies. At RWE we are fully committed to working towards circularity and net-zero emissions. We are already testing the world’s first recyclable wind turbine blades by Siemens Gamesa under real-life conditions. By piloting the GreenerTower at our Thor offshore wind farm, RWE is now once again taking the lead by helping to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of wind turbines.”

The German steel manufacturing company Salzgitter AG, with its heavy plate mill Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH, is the first supplier to be qualified, something that has also been reinforced by third-party certification. The process to produce greener steel entails increased use of scrap steel, less energy-intensive steel manufacturing processes, and an increased use of renewable energy sources. As one of the measures to decarbonize steel production, for example, the electric arc furnace will be fed with green electricity from offshore wind projects.

On average, 1.91 tons of CO₂ are emitted during the manufacturing process for every ton of steel. By setting an ambitious threshold of 0.7 tons CO₂-equivalent emissions per ton of steel, Siemens Gamesa significantly reduces the footprint of the largest component in terms of CO₂-equivalent emissions.

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Keystone Tower Systems has invested more than 10 years into developing tapered spiral welding to address wind tower logistics constraints. The spiral welding equipment can be operated directly on-site at a wind project, allowing steel to be shipped in as flat sheets, then rolled and welded at the project site into 20- to 25-ft diameter towers. By making towers on-site larger in diameter than can be shipped, it is possible to cost-effectively reach hub heights in excess of 500 ft.

“Spiral-welded towers have many advantages,” said CEO Eric Smith. “To deliver the most advanced towers on the market, we’ve designed them in close partnership with the world’s largest turbine OEMs. Spiral welding makes possible a new level of automation, which will result in the fastest production and highest quality the industry has ever seen.”

The Department of Energy continues to highlight Keystone Tower Systems as a success story. Having received funding in the past from the Innovative Small Business Research Program and the Wind Energy Technology Office, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy last week published the article, “How Spiral Welding is Revolutionizing Wind Turbine Manufacturing.”

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