Off the coast of Long Island, a major milestone in American energy history quietly took shape. South Fork Wind Farm became the first utility-scale offshore wind farm to operate in New York and the entire United States. It started generating power in March 2024.
Off the coast of Long Island, American offshore wind energy found its footing for the very first time.
The facility sits 35 miles east of Montauk Point in federal waters. Water depths at the site range from approximately 32 to 43 meters. It’s connected to the grid through a single 138-kilovolt transmission line that runs to an East Hampton substation. A submarine cable stretches roughly 68 nautical miles from the wind farm to Wainscott Beach.
The project uses 12 Siemens Gamesa turbines. Each one’s rated at 11 megawatts, bringing the farm’s total capacity to 132 megawatts. The turbines use the SG 11.0-200 DD model. Each rotor measures 200 meters in diameter with 97-meter-long blades. That’s a swept area of 31,400 square meters per turbine. The turbines use direct drive technology with a permanent magnet generator. They shut down automatically when wind speeds exceed 25 meters per second.
The farm produces enough electricity to power around 70,000 homes. It performs at high levels throughout the year. In November 2024, it reportedly ran at a 56% capacity factor for the month. That’s similar to how a traditional baseload power plant performs. The facility sells its power to the Long Island Power Authority under a long-term contract.
Construction moved quickly after the financial investment decision in February 2022. Onshore work began that same month. The first monopile foundation went into the water in June 2023. The offshore substation was installed the following month in July 2023. The substation platform reportedly stands 60 feet tall and weighs around 500 tons, housing transformers, reactors, and a diesel generator.
Several major companies worked on the project. Ørsted developed it and holds a 50% ownership stake. Skyborn Renewables owns the other 50%, after buying out Eversource’s stake in 2024. Reportedly, Boskalis handled foundation installation, Van Oord installed the turbines, and Kiewit Offshore Services built the substation at a Texas facility. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the project’s Construction and Operations Plan in 2022. The farm’s operations support vessel is reportedly the Eco Edison, operated by Edison Chouest Offshore. Environmental review for the project included a completed NOAA Fisheries EFH Consultation as part of the federal permitting process.
References
- https://www.power-technology.com/projects/south-fork-wind-farm-new-york-us/
- https://www.inspireenvironmental.com/project/south-fork-offshore-wind-project/
- https://www.lipower.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/South-Fork-Wind-Fact-Sheet.pdf
- https://www.enr.com/articles/59676-project-of-the-year-and-best-project-energy-industrial-south-fork-wind
- https://tethys.pnnl.gov/wind-project-sites/south-fork-wind
- https://www.blackridgeresearch.com/project-profiles/south-fork-offshore-wind-farm-mill-power-plant-project-united-states-us-new-york-america-details
