First power from Empire Wind array off Long Island not expected until next year

The first power from the Empire Wind array off Long Island's South Shore will be delayed "by a few months" into next year because of late-arriving construction support vessels, officials said Wednesday. 

Power that had expected to be flowing by year's end from the 54-turbine array 14 miles from Jones Beach has been pushed back into early 2027, said officials from Norway-based Equinor during an investor conference Wednesday. 

"Most of remaining scope of work is offshore turbine installation, which is expected to start next year," said Equinor chief financial officer Torgrim Reitan. "This is a bit later than planned."

The late tug and barges for the work are being built and tested in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Most of Equinor’s conference call was taken up by discussions about its wider fossil fuel operations, including gas and oil exploration and the purchase of its first U.S. natural gas-fired power plant, in Pennsylvania. Reitan said the $940 million purchase of 87% interest in the Lackawanna Energy Center of a 1,483-megawatt plant "strengthens our position in an attractive U.S. core market and complements our strong gas position in the area."

The plant delivers power to the mid-Atlantic PJM energy grid, meaning that the Long Island Power Authority technically could be buying fossil fuel energy from Equinor in the future over the Long Island-to-New Jersey Neptune Regional Transmission power line.

Equinor called the plant "among the largest and most efficient gas-fired power plants in the PJM power market, the largest wholesale electricity market in the U.S."

Though off Long Island's coast, the Empire Wind project is scheduled to deliver all its 810-megawatts of power to the New York City grid at a Con Edison substation in South Brooklyn, where parts are being staged. A second planned Equinor project called Empire Wind 2, which was to deliver all its energy to Long Island, has since been canceled amid rising material costs and opposition from the Trump administration.

Empire Wind has twice weathered Trump administration initiatives to halt work, including a stop work order last year that was later rescinded. 

As of this month, all 54 turbine foundations are complete, as are an offshore substation and cabling work, Equinor has said. Towers of nearly 1,000 feet tall from the tip of the blade will begin to be assembled offshore starting in 2027. 

Equinor chief executive Anders Opedal told analysts that Empire Wind is "around 80% finished. Most of the remaining work is installation of turbines, which starts early in 2027," according to a translation provided by Equinor.

LIPA's grid is already receiving wind power from the South Fork Wind Farm, off the coast of Rhode Island, with another project, Sunrise Wind, set to begin delivering its 924 megawatts to Long Island next year. South Shore and Sunrise wind projects are being built by Denmark-based Orsted.

Orsted spokeswoman Meaghan Wims said Sunrise Wind "expects to begin commissioning turbines later this year and reach commercial operation in the second half of 2027."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.