South Fork Wind
East Hampton, New York
BEST PROJECT, ENERGY/INDUSTRIAL
KEY PLAYERS
Sent by: Eversource Energy
Developers: Eversource Energy; Ørsted
Leading design companies (onshore): HDR and TRC Cos.
General Contractor (Onshore) | Installation of conduit banks and substation: Haugland Group
Construction Manager (on ground): Burns and McDonnell
EPC contractor (offshore substation): Kiewit Offshore Services
Installation of cables (on the ground): LS Cable/Hawkeye
Cable installation (offshore): DON’T SAY
Horizontal directional drilling touched the ground: Michels
Secondary steel turbine: Riggs Distler
Installation of the turbine: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy
Turbine Basics: Boskalis
As the first utility-scale offshore wind project operating in New York and the US, South Fork Wind marks an important milestone in the transition to renewable energy. Located off the coast of Long Island in federal waters, the 130 MW project is designed to meet the area’s growing energy demands by producing clean energy for about 70,000 homes.
The project, which began construction in January 2022 and was commissioned in December 2023, was led by Ørsted Offshore North America, which developed the offshore infrastructure, and utility Eversource Energy, which led the effort on the ground.
“Customers were saying they want clean energy, and this was the way within our geography to make that happen,” says Julia Bovey, spokeswoman for Eversource. “For New England and the Northeast, offshore wind is our thing [opportunity]and we have to figure out how to use it.”
The structures and materials for the project were stored and assembled at the New London State Pier in Connecticut.
Photo courtesy of South Fork Wind
The wind farm features 12 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, each generating 11 MW, which were installed approximately 35 miles off the coast of East Hampton, NY. The turbines feed into a 500-ton, 60-foot-tall marine substation that was designed and manufactured by Kiewit. Offshore services at their facility in Ingleside, Texas, near Corpus Christi.
More than 350 workers from three states supported the construction of the structure. The substation was transported by barge across the Gulf of Mexico and up the East Coast for installation at the South Fork Wind project site. “Clean energy production is at a crucial stage in the US, and offshore wind, like the South Fork Wind project, has a very important role to play,” says Paul Geldmeier, who leads the wind energy work marina de Kiewit as executive vice president of its energy unit.
The project provides power through a single 138 kV transmission line connected to the East Hampton substation. A 68-nautical-mile submarine cable stretches from the wind project site to its grave beneath Wainscott Beach in East Hampton.
Crews install the turbine blades at sea.
Photo courtesy of South Fork Wind
Effort on the ground
The scope of the project on land proved to be a critical phase for South Fork Wind to meet its goal of supplying power to the grid by 2023. A 40-acre terminal in the port area of New London, Connecticut, had a $250 million renovation. as a place of assembly and organization of the project. It is also scheduled to serve Orsted’s 920 MW Sunrise Wind and 704 MW Revolution Wind projects.
Transparent and frequent communication between various teams and stakeholders was critical to the project, says the award presentation. Weekly communication with residents and local leaders through media and social media helped address concerns and maintain community support. Weekday ground construction was limited to a 7am to 7pm window with limited weekend work. In some high-traffic areas, such as roads and beaches, no work has been carried out during the seasonal period from May to September.
The team ensured that all homes along the route and access point to the local beach were accessible to homeowners and beachgoers. Traffic could only be stopped temporarily to ensure safe working conditions. As additional protection, temporary sound walls were installed as needed. Complying with local, state and federal permitting requirements was another critical part of the project. The submission cites teamwork and ongoing communication with regulators as needed to navigate the complex enabling landscape effectively, remain compliant and avoid delays.
One of the most complex aspects of the project was the offshore to onshore transition, where horizontal directional drilling was required to connect the offshore and onshore transmission systems. Crews installed a cable approximately 80 feet below the beach to protect the infrastructure from erosion and storm impacts. The technical complexities and environmental considerations of drilling required meticulous planning.
The project team loaded giant turbine blades into the assembly site in New London.
Photo courtesy of South Fork Wind
meeting point
A joint transition bay was where the Ørsted and Eversource project areas were connected. “At the transition interface point, we had to coordinate our designs, cable testing, and all the different phases of construction that span the ground,” says Burns McDonnell Project Manager Vinny Montemurro, who served as project manager programs on the South Fork beginning in 2018 with an additional construction management role in 2020.
The construction took about 16 months from the opening to the resurfacing of the roads. Ground transmission construction included a 4.1-mile cable route to a new ground substation. The trench was used to install underground cable infrastructure along the overland route. During trenching, areas up to 600 feet in length were opened up, then filled and patched once the infrastructure was established. The cable was pulled through the conduit bank system at each vault location.
Ground work was done with union labor, with an emphasis also on using local companies and M/WBEs, the team says. “The completion and full integration of South Fork Wind positions New York as a national leader in climate initiatives,” Gary LaBarbera, president of the New York State Building Trades, said in a statement. The project had no recordable incidents or accidents with 233,081 hours of work lost. Eversource says the knowledge and experience gained with South Fork Wind has been shared “across the industry, driving innovation and paving the way for future projects.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said the project represents progress toward the state’s goal of developing 9 GW of offshore wind power by 2035. “This milestone highlights the tremendous opportunity we have to create a new industry from the ground up to boost our green energy economy,” he said in a statement.
[Editor’s note: Eversource Energy in October completed the sale of its 50% interest in South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind to Global Infrastructure Partners. The latter project is set to serve Rhode Island and Connecticut by 2026. Eversource remains a tax equity investor in South Fork Wind and is a contractor on Revolution Wind for onshore construction.]
