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Offshore wind in New York once looked breezy but is now facing headwinds.
Wind turbines soon to begin construction miles off the coast have the potential to deliver significant amounts of clean, electric power to the state, staving off blackouts in the future as the need for electricity increases and greening New York City’s grid, which relies mostly on dirty fossil fuels.
But that future could be at risk.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order halting new federal leases and permits for offshore wind projects while federal agencies review their environmental and economic impacts.
For New York’s offshore wind industry, which already faced financial challenges and setbacks, the order meant more uncertainty for anticipated wind projects and the state’s future energy mix.
It’s unclear when New York State might ink contracts for new offshore wind projects, and even if it did, what federal barriers those projects might face. That uncertainty extends to the job creation and the manufacturing supply chain the emerging offshore wind industry had promised.
Still, wind boosters are cautiously optimistic, with most viewing the moment as a pause rather than a full stop.
“We are, certainly as an industry, in a bit of a wait and see,” said KC Sahl, an offshore wind and renewables consultant. “We definitely want to see it move forward.”
Two offshore wind projects in New York, called Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind, both received their federal permits under the Biden administration and are slated to move ahead as scheduled. Plus, construction on a billion-dollar port revitalization project in Brooklyn to support Empire Wind is underway.
Empire Wind, from Norwegian wind developer Equinor, is slated to begin construction in the ocean this spring and would produce enough electricity to power about half a million homes.
“It looks like this project might be the offshore wind project that could,” said Rob Freudenberg, vice president of energy and environment at the Regional Plan Association. “It’s moving forward. All the signs are there that this is going to happen.”
He added, “It’s hard to imagine a scenario — given our energy demand, given our climate goals — that offshore wind ends with one or two projects in the region.”
Power Shortage
The New York Independent System Operator, which oversees the grid, predicted in a 2024 report that New York City and Long Island may not supply enough power in coming years as fossil fuel generators go offline and electricity needs increase — unless more offshore wind comes online.
“Offshore wind remains an important source of energy for downstate New York to meet rising energy demand and enable continued economic growth,” said Alicia Gené Artessa, director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance.
Under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 (CLCPA), New York is required to develop nine gigawatts of offshore wind-produced electricity by 2035 — enough to power over six million homes.
One offshore wind project is in operation, representing less than 2% of that target. Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind — expected to come online in 2027 — would get that up to about 20%.
New York’s offshore wind industry faced challenges long before Trump re-entered the White House. Pandemic-era supply chain constraints and inflation threatened the financial viability of projects and several developers cancelled their contracts with the state.
Trump’s executive order further complicates things.
“This is a really large wrench thrown in the system,” said Joseph Sutkowi, chief waterfront design officer at the Waterfront Alliance, “but something that we eventually will overcome.”
Anti-wind activists have been lobbying the Trump administration to rescind federal permits already given to wind projects, as Heatmap News reported.
But the international companies behind Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind say they are committed to protecting their investments and completing the projects amid the uncertainty as the “best way to create and protect shareholder value,” as Equinor’s CFO put it in a recent earnings call.
But not everyone is sold. The demise of the state’s offshore wind plans could actually be beneficial, according to Ken Girardin, research director at the Empire Center for Public Policy. He raised concerns around offshore wind’s costs and reliability.
“The status quo is going to be terrible for ratepayers,” Girardin said. “The CLCPA committed New York to doing offshore wind and slammed the brakes on marginal improvements to other generators.”
He added, “Every day we spend talking about offshore wind, we aren’t talking about attainable emissions reductions elsewhere.”
The View From Brooklyn
In Sunset Park, Equinor is transforming the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into the nation’s largest dedicated port to support offshore wind. It is designed to be a hub for operations and maintenance for Empire Wind and serve as a connection point to the electric grid.
The 73-acre site has been in construction for nearly nine months, with trucks driving in and out at a constant clip to bring in concrete, pipes and other supplies. Warehouses — which stored bodies during the COVID pandemic — have been demolished.
Construction crews redevelop the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, March 3, 2025. Credit: Samantha Maldonado/THE CITY
The port is supposed to become a center for jobs that support the wind industry — one that local community leaders are eager to tap into.
“We’re working here locally on, how do we get our community ready for these jobs?” said Elizabeth Yeampierre, the executive director of Sunset Park environmental group UPROSE, which has long fought to bring clean energy industries to the waterfront.
The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal upgrade saw its projected costs quadruple to over $1 billion from about $280 million. The original upgrade plan did not count the cost of transmission cables or the substation to support the offshore wind project, according to New York City Economic Development Corporation board documents that also noted the war in Ukraine drove up its expenses, as it snarled global supply chains. Equinor is funding about $1 billion into the project, while the city is expected to add as much as $85 million to the roughly $56 million it has already put in. (New York state has kicked in $60 million so far.)
Sutkowi, of the Waterfront Alliance, said the mostly privately backed project makes sense as a local investment.
“There’s no way to build the Equinor project if that facility is not built, so it is needed,” he said. “The goal is once that project’s construction is completed, we are actively planning for the next set of developments to use that space. We have a lot of confidence it will continue to add value to the offshore wind industry, even if there is a brief gap as you’re waiting for those next projects to move forward.”
If the wind projects don’t pan out, the upgraded terminal will still be able to handle heavy freight for uses unrelated to wind.
“Our work to continue building this industry in New York City is continuing,” said Nse-Abasi Esema, senior vice president of the green economy at EDC, pointing to its wind-related investments and programs for job training and entrepreneurs as part of developing the green economy.
Queens Gambit
The federal uncertainty leaving offshore wind projects in limbo is having ripple effects elsewhere around the city.
On the southwest end of Staten Island, just south of the Outerbridge Crossing, a plan to create a 32-acre port for the staging and assembly of wind projects is on ice while the developers await state and federal permits.
In Astoria, Queens, the company that owns the Ravenswood Generating Station has wanted to replace its 1960s-era gas-powered steam generators with clean power. The pollution coming from the iconic candy cane smokestacks that line the waterfront earned the neighborhood the nickname Asthma Alley. But the vision for a greener plant, Renewable Ravenswood, is largely tied to offshore wind.
A wind project intended to serve as the backbone of Renewable Ravenswood went up in smoke as the company behind it —a joint venture of three companies, including Rise Light & Power, which owns Ravenswood — backed away shortly before Trump’s election.
Still, supporters argue the state should move forward to approve permits for wind-related projects at Ravenswood so that they are ready if and when the offshore wind developments move ahead in the future.
“We always said this project would take until the early 2030s to come online,” said Rise Light CEO Clint Plummer. “It’s important the state continues to make progress on the things that they can while we continue to wait for the federal government to take action.”
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