Some 18 months after gaining approvals from the New York Public Service Commission, Sunrise Wind broke ground on July 17, 2024. It was a momentous occasion where State and County officials stood for the photo op, wearing hardhats and holding symbolic shovels at Bellport’s Boys and Girls Club.
The 84-turbine offshore wind farm is envisioned. Transmission cables will come to shore on the east end of Fire Island, at Smith Point County Park, then connect to a substation in Holbrook. There is much excitement about what will be New York’s largest wind farm to date, bringing jobs and clean energy to Long Island.
“We’re growing New York’s green economy, building clean energy, and expanding economic opportunities for all New Yorkers,” Governor Hochul said in a released statement. “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.”
Town of Brookhaven Councilman Neil Foley echoed these sentiments in his interview with FIN earlier in the month: “Elected officials make decisions about today, but we also make decisions for the future. As a country, we are starting to move away from fossil fuels. Wind is a very significant source of energy…. it is clean energy, and I support it tremendously.”
With all this going on, how timely it was that the Village of Ocean Beach Environmental Commission (VOBEC) hosted its Annual Environmental Awareness Day (EAD) on Sunday morning, July 28. The event addressed the subject of wind power and featured guest speakers from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
With the groundbreaking ceremony taking place only 10 days before, the NYSERDA specialists came to Windswept, the Ocean Beach Village public facility that serves as a day camp during summertime weekdays, with a mission to decipher what all this means, both the eminent turbines coming to our neighborhood soon, and the layers of entities that will facilitate and manage them.
The speakers from NYSERDA Offshore Wind included Janna Herndon, the Project Manager; Sherryll Huber, Senior Project Team Manager; and Morgan Brunbauer, the Marine Fisheries Manager. All came dressed in shorts and NYSERDA shirts and stood before a gathering of about 45 attendees.
Most of the residents who came to the EAD had some level of knowledge about New York projects like Sunrise Wind. According to Janna Herndon, who opened the presentation, wind power has been a source of energy in Europe for some time now–30 years.
Of course, wind turbine power is not entirely new to the United States. This editor saw plenty of them dotting the landscape of Cape Cod during a brief visit two years ago. Also, the other Fire Island (our sister island in Alaska) has maintained a wind turbine field in commercial operation since 2012.
What seemed to surprise some audience members was the difference in scale between the turbines built on land compared to those operating in open oceans (548 feet in diameter and 646 feet tall). The scope of the project was also enlightening. South Fork Wind, off-shore of the Hamptons is a field of 12 turbines, while Sunrise Wind plans for more than 80 constructed.
Sherryll Huber continued the presentation to explain the roles and responsibilities divided between federal government agencies like the Bureau of Energy Management, state agencies like NYSERDA, and developers like the Danish energy company Ørsted, who will lead Sunrise Wind.
Finally, Morgan Brunbauer spoke about wildlife.
“$10-thousand dollars per kilowatt is invested in wildlife management,” said Brunbauer.
Concern for the fate of whales, seabirds, and the fishing industry itself is well publicized, and some of the people who attended the EAD quietly confided to FIN that it was much of the impetus for their attendance at the Sunday talk.
“I worry for the whales,” Margaret Applebaum-Mazel said as the talk began to wind down.
Only days before the groundbreaking, a wind turbine blade failed offshore of Martha’s Vineyard, leading it to snap, and bits of debris began washing up on the shores of Nantucket. After the presentation concluded, Janna Herndon told FIN, “We are monitoring that situation and learning from it.”
NYSERDA offers a series of online webinars in which the public can learn more about Offshore Wind technology, development practices, and research findings, all delivered by outside experts. Visit nyserda.ny.gov/osw-webinar-series or visit the NYSERDA YouTube channel.
