New York Construction Report staff writer
The New York State Public Service Commission has approved a transmission line that will deliver electricity from the Sunrise Wind Farm, a proposed wind farm off the coast of Long Island, to the existing electrical grid in New York State, carrying electricity 25 miles to an existing substation in Brookhaven, Suffolk County.
Construction is expected to start as early as 2023, with the wind farm expected to be fully operational in 2025. Sunrise Wind is entering negotiations with New York State contractors and trade labor organizations on a project labor agreement to cover construction activities for the project and committing to paying prevailing wages.
“Today we take the next great step in connecting Long Island’s Workforce to the heart of our new economy for New York State,” Matthew Aracich, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, said in a statement. “The Governor’s approval of the transmission line for Sunrise Wind will actively put our members to work. When we create good paying, union jobs, especially in the emerging green energy industry, we are really creating careers.
“Sunrise Wind, and the subsequent offshore wind projects which will follow in order to hit Governor Hochul’s 9GW goal, will create thousands of careers and represents the biggest economic development opportunity on Long Island in our lifetime.”
At 924 megawatts (MW), the proposed Sunrise Wind farm located in federal waters is the largest offshore wind farm yet that would be connected to New York’s electric grid and the wind farm project is being developed as a partnership between Ørsted and Eversource, with support from Con Edison Transmission and the New York Power Authority, who will assist the development of the transmission facilities needed to deliver the offshore wind energy to the electric transmission grid.
The approved transmission project includes a high-voltage, 320-kV, DC submarine export cable bundle up to 5.2 miles long that will enter New York State territorial waters 3 nautical miles from land. The transmission line will then transition from an offshore cable to an onshore cable that will travel up to 17.2 miles to an onshore converter station.
New York State selected Sunrise Wind, a 924-megawatt wind farm that will be located more than 30 miles east of Montauk Point, as part of NYSERDA’s inaugural competitive 2018 offshore wind solicitation.
