This is the year New York has seen growth in offshore wind investments – growth that experts hope will continue into the new year. In 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a $500 million investment in offshore wind for cleaner energy, as part of a goal to develop nine-thousand megawatts of offshore wind power by 2035.
Another step forward for the industry is redevelopment of the 73-acre South Brooklyn Marine Terminal for the staging of construction, operations and maintenance for several offshore wind projects.
Fred Zalcman with the New York Offshore Wind Alliance said that's not the only highlight.
"We’ve seen significant developments on several fronts. First, we are seeing the start of construction on New York’s first utility-scale offshore wind project, the South Fork Wind Farm, which will be 130 megawatts, serve over 70,000 people on Long Island," Zalcman said.
He adds there have been real-estate commitments to develop a National Offshore Wind Training Center, and agreements between developers and environmental groups to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale during wind-project construction.