Giant ports with wind turbines will be installed on the coasts of New York

Extensive wind turbines will soon be installed 22 kilometers off the coast of New York in the Atlantic Ocean. Through a recent $4,37 billion federal auction, these wind farms will help New York reach its 2019 mandate to produce 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, reports Gothamist.

But the development of offshore wind power will require vast stretches of coastline to be converted to build and maintain giant turbines. The two urban developments under construction are located on Staten Island along Arthur Kill, a shipping canal with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. They are part of a massive plan to develop an offshore wind network in New York.

The proposed sites, the Rossville Municipal Site and the Arthur Kill Terminal, currently contain undisturbed wild forests and swamps. Over the decades, they have become home to vultures, deer, geese and other wildlife. Now they will be replaced by huge new port facilities for the production and assembly of wind turbine components.

These areas were chosen because of the sizeable areas needed to build huge components of offshore wind turbines. Wind turbine blades can be as long as a football field, and turbine towers can reach 100 meters. Specialized boats that deliver and install turbines also have retractable legs that can reach 100 meters.

On the subject: Views on the coast of New York and New Jersey will change: a large wind farm will be built in the ocean

New York developed a plan in September 2021 that includes a $191 million investment to repurpose public and private maritime terminals, wharfs, shipyards and vacant waterfront lots. These areas will be transformed into new manufacturing facilities, ports and assembly stations, where thousands of workers will be able to build and maintain huge wind turbines.

If completed, the two Staten Island facilities will join the city's first onshore facility designed to support offshore wind farms, located at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park. Under a deal brokered by the New York Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the city property will be refurbished by Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor and British oil and gas company BP.

The site will also be a power grid junction where submarine cables will deliver electricity generated from offshore wind farms. New York is required by state law to generate 2035 megawatts of offshore wind power by 9000, powering up to 6 million homes.

Great Opportunities

The Arthur Kill terminal could become one of the most important links in the offshore wind power supply chain in New York. There are few sites in the region that meet the height and space requirements for the assembly and transport of wind towers. This is a 12-hectare piece of land in the vicinity of Richmond Valley, located south of the Outerbridge intersection, at the mouth of Mill Creek.

“If you think about where such a facility could exist and look at the potential facilities in the region, this is really the only place in northern New Jersey and New York State that would fit,” said Boon Davis, president and CEO of Atlantic Offshore. terminals.

Davis said his company looked at 70 different sites in the region before settling on Arthur Kill's terminal project. The local port will be used to assemble the massive towers and turbines needed for wind farms. And then to send them to New York bay, which is a much cheaper alternative than offshore assembly.

Previously, there were plans to build the Riverside Galleria, a 42450-square-meter mall with retail stores and cinemas, on the site. The plan was shelved in 2019 after local politicians raised concerns about increased traffic congestion.

The site now hosts a small strip of shops and businesses along Arthur Kill Road. But most of its area is undeveloped forest and swamps.

Dirt roads wind through its dense forests, vultures soar over the meadows, and geese swim in shallow ponds. Tucked away along the coastline on Arthur Kill Island is a 450-metre unused sandy beach.

Fly in the Ointment

The developers of Atlantic Offshore Terminals recognize the impact of wildlife destruction on the environment.

“It's so important in terms of renewable energy that we have to build this port. But there is an impact. We are going to take over tidal and some freshwater wetlands,” said Charles Duherty, commercial director of Atlantic Offshore Terminals.

Duherty says the company plans to spend money on protecting and restoring wetlands elsewhere on the island to offset its actions. However, he did not name the exact amount.

“The main hurdle we're still tackling is getting government support for the project,” Duherty said. “You cannot build a port in the United States without government financial support.”

In August 2021, Empire State Development, in partnership with developers, applied for funding from the US Department of Transportation's Port Infrastructure Development Grant Program. In April 2022, his bid received support from Chuck Schumer in the Senate. NYCEDC also wrote a letter in support of the project.

Jurassic park atmosphere

Three kilometers north on Arthur Kill Road, near Rossville, Staten Island, NYCEDC recently completed a request for proposals to develop the Rossville municipal site.

This 13-hectare site has been owned by the city since 1990 and is one of the largest undeveloped waterfront industrial sites. NYCEDC said it will prioritize proposals that would allow the site to be converted into an offshore wind facility manufacturing turbine blades and wind farm components. The City is also open to suggestions to use the site for operation, maintenance, staging and assembly.

The interior of Rossville is a 4-hectare post-industrial wasteland where trees and vines have grown untouched for decades, surrounding a few empty, graffiti-covered warehouses. A spring pond formed at the base of one of the natural gas tanks, flooding the concrete industrial remains. Abandoned luggage, office chairs and playground equipment allude to the fact that the local forests are often visited.

“Right now, it definitely has something of Jurassic Park in it,” said Max Tuffett, vice president of NYCEDC. “The Rossville site was waiting for the right moment to match the natural features of the site, its coastal nature and Staten Island location,” Tuffett said. The NYCEDC RFP ended June 1, and the city is currently evaluating options for this site.

Along with the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, the Rossville Municipal Site, and the Arthur Kill Terminal, NYCEDC plans to build or commission a network of other facilities throughout New York to support wind power.

These onshore structures that support offshore wind farms will generate over a billion dollars a year in the coming decades, according to NYCEDC. And also create up to 13 jobs in the city and state.

“The service life of each of these installations is 30 years. So they need to be serviced for 30 years and then they will be replaced by the next generation of turbines,” said Kimball.