Largest U.S. offshore wind farm to be built off Long Island by Deepwater Wind

A man walks on rocks as the Deepwater Wind LLC offshore wind farm is under construction off the coast of Block Island on July 27, 2015. Deepwater Wind LLC is installing a massive steel frame, more than 1,500 tons, that sits on the seabed and juts about 70 feet from the water south of Rhode Island. By the end of next year there will be five of these platforms, each supporting a huge turbine, the first offshore wind farm in U.S. waters.  / BLOOMBERG NEWS PHOTO/SHIHO FUKADA
A man walks on rocks as the Deepwater Wind LLC offshore wind farm is under construction off the coast of Block Island on July 27, 2015. Deepwater Wind LLC is installing a massive steel frame, more than 1,500 tons, that sits on the seabed and juts about 70 feet from the water south of Rhode Island. By the end of next year there will be five of these platforms, each supporting a huge turbine, the first offshore wind farm in U.S. waters. / BLOOMBERG NEWS PHOTO/SHIHO FUKADA

(Updated 2:19 p.m.)
NEW YORK – The Long Island Power Authority plans to approve a 90 megawatt wind farm off the coast of New York that would become the largest in the U.S. when completed.

Deepwater Wind LLC was selected to install 15 offshore turbines about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Montauk for a project that the utility’s board expects to approve at a meeting on July 20, said Sid Nathan, a spokesman for the state-owned utility, which is operated by Public Service Enterprise Group Inc.

“This is the first step to developing the tremendous offshore wind resource off Long Island,” Nathan said in an interview. “It will be Long Island’s contribution to meeting Governor Cuomo’s ambitious plan to reach 50 percent renewable energy by 2030.”

Terms have not yet been determined, he said. The plan to build the offshore wind farm was first reported by the Associated Press, citing an interview with LIPA CEO Thomas Falcone. An agreement on pricing could be reached early next year and the wind farm could be completed as early as 2022, Nathan said.

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“Offshore wind will be a huge industry in the U.S., supplying clean, cost-effective power to coastal states. Our proposal to Long Island is a huge step forward and a validation of our long-term plans. This industry is really about to take off,” Deepwater CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said.

Deepwater Wind also is building the first U.S. offshore wind farm off the coast of Block Island, a 30-megawatt project that it expects to produce power later this year.

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