Offshore windfall

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The way some describe it, offshore wind could be Long Island’s saving grace.

It’s the resource to deliver clean, less costly energy, bringing with it high-paying jobs while positioning Long Island as a leader in the burgeoning field.

With a push from Gov. Andrew Cuomo to increase the state’s offshore wind capacity to 9,000 megawatts by 2035, Long Island is rapidly gaining attention from international companies wishing to expand here.

The initiative is part of New York’s clean energy standard, which, according to the state, aims to “fight climate change, reduce harmful air pollution, and ensure a diverse and reliable low carbon energy supply.”

By 2030, offshore wind could be a $70 billion industry, said Lars Thaaning Pedersen, from Vineyard Wind – a company behind Liberty Wind, a project 85 miles off of Montauk.

Speaking at a Long Island Association breakfast in Melville last week, Pedersen was from one of three offshore wind developers that responded to requests for proposals for New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s 800-megawatt offshore wind project. NYSERDA is expected to decide on the project later this month.

Taking the helm with renewables, New York is uniquely situated, the developers said.

“No state in America has as much potential as New York,” said Clint Plummer from Orsted – the company behind the proposed Sunrise Wind project, which is 30 miles off of the South Fork.

And the Island, he said, “sits at the epicenter of this industry,” serving as the “geographic center” in the “middle of Boston and Washington.”

Within that space, Plummer said there could be as many as 40,000 people working in the offshore wind industry by 2030.

Calling the 2035 offshore wind goals “ambitious,” Pedersen said “a few years ago, it was hardly on anyone’s radar.”

Now, offshore wind seems to be on everyone’s radar, especially from global companies, local colleges and universities, labor, subcontractors and other sectors.

“Part of Long Island’s future is unfolding right before our eyes,” LIA President and Chief Executive Kevin Law said at the breakfast. “It’s happening with the support of the federal and state governments.”

With Long Island centered in the middle of the “wind corridor,” from Boston to Washington, DC, and with new cost efficiencies now realized, experts say the region could stand to gain in a big way, with thousands of jobs not just in the trades, but also legal, accounting and engineering fields.

“It’s a huge opportunity for anyone with permitting expertise” as well as for students, consultants and small businesses, Pedersen said. The industry is seen as an “ecosystem from the guy with the flatbed truck to aid with construction, to the guy with the PhD in marine science.”

Funding, research and training

Last week, The National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium announced as much as $7 million for offshore wind technology projects.

“This initial solicitation is an important step in moving ahead with the technical improvements that are going to be necessary to reduce the long term cost of offshore wind and ensure it will be an important component of meeting our long term energy goals,” Robert Catell, chairman of the consortium board and chairman of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, said in a statement about the grants.

“It is very encouraging that we have been able to move so quickly,” he said.

It was the same week that representatives from Orsted said at a forum at Suffolk County Community College that the company would invest $10 million to create a national workforce training center, if selected by NYSERDA for the state’s first offshore wind project.

Pedersen said Liberty would spend $20 million providing training and participating in research, working with Stony Brook University, SUNY Maritime, community colleges and vocational schools, which could also apply for workforce training grants.

Jonathan Forde, of Equinor – the company behind the Empire Wind project– said the company is collaborating with SUNY Maritime and Farmingdale State College to create a training program, and with Stony Brook University on research. The Empire Wind project could be 14 miles off of Nassau County, but the visual impact, Forde said, would be “minimal.”

Building grassroots support

In most instances, the turbines, the developers said, would likely not be visible from the shore. And that could be satisfying to those who say wind farms are blights for beachgoers and others. But that also presents a challenge for the developers as they introduce projects to new communities, where their support is essential in order to move forward.

There are “so many stakeholders,” Forde said. That’s why “finding the right balance” is key.

“Every decision comes with tradeoffs,” he said, noting that the company looks to “minimize impact” and “create new opportunities, and let everyone grow and prosper.”

Still, he said, “it’s hard to envision because it’s still a concept in so many ways.”

Meanwhile, environmentalists from The Nature Conservancy and from Citizens Campaign for the Environment say they support the initiative.

Adrienne Esposito, Citizens Campaign’s executive director, said her organization has supported offshore wind, with a site-specific environmental review, for 15 years.

“Offshore wind power will undergo a rigorous environmental review,” she told LIBN.

“That review will include assessments for impacts to birds, wildlife, marine mammals and fish,” she added. “As an environmental organization we are abundantly concerned about impacts to the environment caused by siting energy infrastructure.”

Yet, she noted, “We are more concerned about climate change impacts. All large-scale energy infrastructure has some impact on the environment, but we need to choose the energy infrastructure with the least impacts – and that is wind power.”

And Amanda Lefton, while serving as deputy policy director for The Nature Conservancy in New York in November, said in a statement that the state’s request for proposal for offshore wind development would “ensure an environmentally conscious process, modernizing our energy grid while protecting our valuable marine resources and industries.”

That’s encouraging to offshore wind developers.

Noting that the path has been long, Forde said he sees “nothing but opportunities ahead.”