Construction of foundation components reaches 50% completion milestone
By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
COEYMANS — New York state’s largest offshore wind project will be off the coast of Long Island, but components for the project are being constructed in the Port of Coeymans.
Company and local officials gathered at the Port on Thursday to announce that 50% of the advanced foundation components for the offshore turbines being built in Coeymans have been completed.
The foundation components range in size from 12 to 120 tons each and stand as tall as 40 feet. Each component includes the foundation’s internal and external platforms, railings, anode cages and other parts that will attach to the foundations that the wind turbine generators will be installed on.
The project represents a more than $86 million investment by Orsted into the state’s offshore wind supply chain, according to company officials, and has created more than 230 jobs in construction and steel manufacturing in the Capital Region and western New York.
Doreen Harris, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, pointed to the large foundation components at the Port and said it is a project that will help move the state toward its goals of clean energy production.
“This is what building offshore wind looks like — this is what we knew could be possible and now we see it before us, literally, here today,” Harris said. “We are here to celebrate an historic milestone for New York’s largest offshore wind project, the Sunrise Wind Project, but also the jobs and opportunities that we knew offshore wind could bring, specifically to our state and even more specifically, here to the Capital Region.”
The Port of Coeymans is one of the first ports in the country producing advanced foundation components for an offshore wind farm created by U.S. workers, Harris said.
Sunrise Wind is one part of Orsted’s goal of investing $20 billion by 2030 to build the nation’s clean energy industry and supply chain, according to Orsted.
“The Port of Coeymans is a perfect example of what offshore wind brings to New York: more than 120 union workers are here constructing a project that will deliver clean energy to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the state,” said David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at Orsted. “Sunrise Wind is an American clean energy project by New Yorkers, for New Yorkers. We look forward to building Sunrise Wind and future projects as we continue to invest in New York’s union-led offshore wind supply chain and workforce.”
Once completed, the 924-megawatt project will power nearly 600,000 New York homes and businesses, according to Orsted. The project will also aid New York in achieving the governor’s mandate of 70% renewable energy by 2030.
Riggs Distler & Company is the general contractor building the project’s foundation components. The completed components will be shipped down the Hudson River and ultimately to the offshore wind farm site about 30 miles east of Montauk in Long Island.
“The work we are doing strengthens our nation’s energy independence and economic prosperity while ensuring a sustainable future for generations,” said Stephen Zemaitatis Jr., president and CEO of Riggs Distler.
The foundation components are being constructed by union workers, many of whom attended Thursday’s event.
“Offshore wind is about more than clean energy — it’s about people,” said Michael Lyons, president of the Greater Capital Region Building and Construction Trades Council. “And thanks to Orsted’s investments in our state, Sunrise Wind is creating new opportunities for union workers across New York building a clean energy future.”
