Governor Hochul recently announced the start of construction on New York’s largest offshore wind project, Sunrise Wind, a 924-megawatt project developed by Ørsted. Once completed, the project will provide enough clean energy to power approximately 600,000 New York homes, according to the press release.
“We're growing New York's green economy, building clean energy, and expanding economic opportunities for all New Yorkers,” Governor Hochul said. “By breaking ground on Sunrise Wind and advancing the next wave of offshore wind projects, New York is passing a tremendous milestone to combat climate change. These projects will create good-paying union jobs and demonstrate that New York is leading the nation to build the offshore wind industry."
According to the press release, the recent groundbreaking at the Boys and Girls Club of Bellport on Long Island officially kicked off the start of the Sunrise Wind project which will support more than 800 direct jobs during the construction phase of the project and will spur economic benefits from the Capital Region to Long Island – including a $700 million investment in Suffolk County alone. It will be built under project labor agreements that ensure local union labor's participation in all phases of construction. The project will be located approximately 30 miles east of Montauk, New York, with an approved transmission route connecting to the State’s electricity grid at the Holbrook Substation in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County.
As a mature project, Sunrise Wind has already completed all major federal and state permitting milestones and received approval of its Construction and Operations Plan (COP) from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on June 21, 2024.