pwr_september-2024 - 31

TOP PLANT
POWER POINTS
Winning Attributes
✔ South Fork Wind marks a series of
historic firsts. In addition to being
New York's first offshore wind farm
and America's first commercialscale
offshore wind farm, the
project features the country's first
American-built offshore substation,
and utilizes the first American-built
and crewed service operations
vessel and crew transfer vessels.
✔ Nearly a thousand workers spread
across five states have contributed
to building South Fork Wind.
1. This Bokalift vessel, part of the fleet operated by Boskalis, a Dutch company, helped move
components for the foundations and offshore substation for South Fork Wind. The vessels can
be used for transportation and installation of jackets and monopiles for offshore wind turbines.
Courtesy: South Fork Wind
" When I broke ground on the South
Fork project, I made a promise to build
a cleaner, greener future for all New
Yorkers, " Hochul said. South Fork Wind
announced the financial investment
decision (FID) for the project in February
2022 and started onshore construction
in the same month.
Said Hochul, " I'm keeping to that
promise and South Fork Wind is now
delivering clean energy to tens of thousands
of homes and businesses on Long
Island. With more projects in the pipeline,
this is just the beginning of New
York's offshore wind future and I look forward
to continued partnership with the
Biden administration and local leaders to
build a clean and resilient energy grid. "
Several Companies Involved in
Construction
Among the companies participating in
South Fork Wind's construction were
Haugland Energy Group, Elecnor Hawkeye,
and Roman Stone. Those groups
built much of the project's infrastructure,
including an onshore substation
and the underground transmission
system. Riggs Distler was a Tier 1 supplier
for South Fork, providing onshore
construction, assembly, and inspection
of advanced foundation components.
Kiewit Offshore Services designed and
built the offshore substation; Ramboll
collaborated with Kiewit on the frontend
engineering design, and detailed
design of the high-voltage alternatingcurrent
offshore substation.
Hellenic Cables was commissioned
September 2024 | POWER
for the design, manufacture, supply, testing,
and termination of many of the 66kV
cross-linked
polyethylene-insulated
subsea
inter-array cables and associated
accessories. Boskalis was contracted
to transport and install the foundations
and offshore substation (Figure 1), and
Van Oord was chosen for the transport
and installation of the wind turbines.
Other companies involved in the project
include VHB, Mott MacDonald, Stantec,
Sea Services North America, and
HeliService International.
The project features components
manufactured and assembled in several
states. For example, the offshore substation
was built in Texas, its export cable
was made in South Carolina, and foundation
components came from Rhode Island.
Assembly of many parts took place
in Connecticut.
Guldner told POWER: " The Northeast
is a priority market for Ørsted, and South
Fork Wind has paved the way for success
at our next projects in the region.
From investments in port infrastructure,
to workforce training programs with universities
and governments, to the growing
local supply chain, our partnerships
have helped make this region an offshore
wind powerhouse. We see 2024
as a year of action for offshore wind, and
South Fork Wind is a prime example. "
Project Approved in 2017
The project was initially approved by the
Long Island Power Authority Board of
Trustees in 2017. Construction began in
February 2022, and started with the onwww.powermag.com
shore
export cable system that links the
project to the Long Island electric grid.
The first monopile foundation-what the
industry calls " steel in the water " -was
installed in June 2023. The final turbine
was placed in February of this year.
" The global offshore wind industry
faced macroeconomic challenges in
2023, but our work on South Fork Wind
continued and we were able to achieve
first power at the end of that year-a
true turning point for America's offshore
wind industry, " said Guldner.
South Fork Wind's turbines were
staged and assembled at State Pier in
New London, Connecticut. Foundation
components were completed at the
Ørsted and Eversource fabrication hub
at ProvPort in Rhode Island. The project's
crew vessels and crew change helicopter
are based out of Quonset Point,
Rhode Island.
" South Fork Wind was made possible
by local labor, local suppliers, and
local buy-in from community leaders and
elected officials at all levels, " said Guldner.
" We are proud that our partnerships
and investments helped build a talented
pipeline of workers and businesses excited
to be a part of this historic project,
and in doing so, we helped make South
Fork Wind a true source of pride for Long
Islanders and all New Yorkers. " ■
-Darrell Proctor is a senior
editor for POWER.
31
✔ Clean energy from South Fork
Wind each year will eliminate
CO2 emissions equivalent to those
produced by 60,000 cars. Over the
course of 25 years, this wind farm
will displace six million tons of CO2.

http://www.powermag.com

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