South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to become one of nation’s largest offshore wind ports
Image courtesy of Equinor
Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced an agreement that will transform New York City’s South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into one of the country’s largest offshore wind ports. As part of the deal made with the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Equinor, and the Sustainable South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, L.P., the terminal will become a power interconnection site for the Empire Wind 1 project, with heavy-lift platforms being built on the 39th Street Pier for use as wind turbine staging. The terminal’s transformation will help the city meet its climate goal of having 100 percent clean electricity by 2040.
The city predicts that the terminal’s transformation will remove more than 34 million tons of CO2 from the environment, and provide 13,000 new jobs in the offshore wind field across the five boroughs, according to a press release.
NYCEDC is working with Equinor to ensure that the new jobs are spread across a diverse pool of applicants and has set a goal for minority and women-owned businesses to make up 30 percent of contractors for the site. The site will also generate an average of $1.3 billion in investments yearly.
“With this investment, the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal will soon be transformed into one of the largest offshore wind port facilities in the nation,” Adams said.
“This site will be the launch of a whole new industry for New York City that will support 13,000 local jobs over time, generate $1.3 billion in average annual investment citywide, and significantly reduce our carbon footprint so that we can meet our climate goals of 100 percent clean electricity by 2040. This is a transformative moment for New York City and our clean energy future — a future of sustainable power, good-paying jobs, and climate justice.”
Equinor has also agreed to contribute $5 million towards an ecosystem fund that will help New Yorkers enter the offshore wind field as well as accelerate wind innovation. They will also open an offshore wind learning center within their Brooklyn office that is open to the community.
With this announcement, the city has invested $191 million into offshore wind projects. The city currently has five offshore wind projects in development which are projected to bring $12.1 billion in economic impact to the state.
“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,” Siri Espedal Kindem, president, Equinor Wind U.S., said in a statement.
“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.”
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