Plan for New York Offshore Wind Port Hits Major Milestone

Equinor and BP have announced an agreement to turn a historic marine terminal in Brooklyn, New York into a major regional hub for offshore wind.

Under the agreement, the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) will be transform into an offshore wind port capable of staging and assembling the largest and most sophisticated offshore wind components for the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects, along with other projects planned for the East Coast.

The agreement was co-signed by terminal operator Sustainable South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SSBMT) and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

Equinor and BP are expected to invest between $200 million and $250 million to create an operations and maintenance (O&M) hub and staging area at SBMT. The plan will also pursue the development of SBMT as a low-emissions facility. Once completed, the port will be tranformed into a cutting-edge staging facility for Equinor and BP’s Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects, supplying 3.3 gigawatts (GWs) of energy—enough to power nearly two million New York homes.

At approximately 73.1 acres, SBMT will be one of the largest dedicated offshore wind port facilities in the United States and will serve as a go-to destination for future offshore wind projects in the region. It is the only industrial waterfront site in the New York City area with the capacity to accommodate wind turbine generator staging and assembly activities at the scale required by component manufacturers. Activities at SBMT are anticipated to support over one thousand jobs annually in the region.

“This agreement marks a major step forward in our commitment to New York State to both provide renewable power and to spark fresh economic activity, while creating enduring jobs,” said Siri Espedal Kindem, President of Equinor Wind U.S.

“With the support of NYCEDC, SSBMT and our partners in the community, Equinor and bp are ready and eager to invest in the revitalization of SBMT, an historic port that will soon become a major part of New York’s energy future. New York has shown unflagging determination to become a focal point of the region’s offshore wind industry, and this agreement offers tangible evidence that this vision is quickly coming to life,” Kindem added.

The agreement to develop the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal is the latest milestone in New York States pursuit of becoming a leading offshore wind hub in the United States. Last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management auctioned off a record-shattering $4.37 billion worth of offshore wind leases to developers planning future projects in the New York Bight, located off the coasts of New York and New Jersey.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul in January announced a “nation-leading” $500 million investment to support the development of ports, manufacturing, and supply chain infrastructure for the nascent offshore wind sector.

Construction on New York’s first offshore wind project kicked off last month. The South Fork wind project, being developed by Ørsted and Eversource, will have capacity of 130 megawatts (MW), enough to power some 70,000 homes. It’s now the second commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project approved for federal waters in the United States, following the Vineyard Wind project.

“We are enormously proud to lay the groundwork today for our vision of making New York City a nation-leading hub for the offshore wind industry. This agreement builds on the City’s $57M commitment to reactivate SBMT as a key manufacturing and operations base and will help make New York a leader in climate resiliency as well as air quality through clean energy investments,” said NYCEDC Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President Lindsay Greene.

Equinor also recently announced the opening of the New York offshore wind project office, adjacent to SBMT in “Industry City”, which will serve as the hub for Equinor and BP’s regional offshore wind activities.