Deepwater Wind says it has developed a new approach to meeting the growing energy need on Long Island's South Fork: an offshore wind farm and two battery energy storage systems.
In response to PSEG-Long Island's request for new local energy resources serving the South Fork – a peninsula in southeastern Long Island, N.Y. – Deepwater Wind is proposing to supply capacity and renewable energy from the 90 MW, 15-turbine Deepwater ONE – South Fork project.
This would be the first phase of a regional offshore wind farm the company is developing roughly 30 miles southeast of Montauk – far enough away to be over the horizon. All transmission cables would be buried deep below existing roads and under shoreline features, and there would be no overhead cables or poles, notes Deepwater Wind.
To complement the wind farm, the developer is also proposing to build two new battery energy storage facilities – one in Montauk and the other in Wainscott. The facilities would consist of lithium-ion battery technology designed and installed by GE. Located on industrially zoned sites on Industrial Rd. in Montauk and at the Wainscott Commercial Center, the facilities would be operational by 2018. Together, the sites could store 15 MW of energy.
According to Deepwater Wind, the combination of renewable generation with energy storage provides a cost-effective solution to two challenges: First, by delivering clean energy directly to the Long Island Power Authority's (LIPA) existing substation in East Hampton, the project serves a growing need on the South Fork without adding new oil-fired power plants or larger transmission lines.
Second, the developer says, by delivering significant quantities of renewable energy to Long Island, the project will help satisfy LIPA's commitment to procure 280 MW of on-island renewable capacity; facilitate the Town of East Hampton's board mandate to achieve 100% renewable energy use by 2030; and support Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plans to mandate that half of all power used by New Yorkers be generated from renewable sources by 2030.
Construction on Deepwater ONE – South Fork could begin as early as 2019, with commercial operations by 2022. Deepwater ONE would produce enough energy to power approximately 50,000 homes.
In July 2013, Deepwater Wind won a 30-year lease to develop the Deepwater ONE project in federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf. The developer designed the project using the same technology as its Block Island Wind Farm, which is now under construction off the coast of Block Island, R.I. That project is expected to be operational by the end of 2016.
