NEW LONDON, Conn. — Despite some recent financial setbacks, U.S. offshore wind power has hit a milestone. An 800-foot-tall turbine is now sending electricity onto the grid from a commercial-scale offshore wind farm on pace to be the country’s first.
The moment is years in the making and at the same time a modest advance in what experts say needs to be a major build-out of this type of clean electricity to address climate change.
Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource announced Wednesday the first electricity from what will be a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles east of Montauk Point, N.Y. It will be New York’s first offshore wind farm.
Ørsted and Eversource met Wednesday with New York officials to celebrate this “first power” milestone, in East Hampton, N.Y., where the wind farm connects to the onshore electric grid. They say the achievement builds a foundation for other large United States offshore wind farms that will follow.