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Empire Wind

Empire Wind

Equinor‘s U.S. based subsidiary is developing the Empire Wind lease area in two phases

Phase 1

Located south of Long Island, the first phase of Empire Wind started construction in 2024. The installation of the first of 54 foundations took place in Spring 2025, with the initial power generation anticipated by the end of 2026. The 54 turbines will produce 810 MW.

Phase 2

The second phase of Empire Wind is under consideration for future offtake agreements and would be located directly behind the first phase of Empire Wind. This space has the potential for an additional 84 turbines delivering 1,260 MW.

Map of Empire Wind project and transmission line coming to New York City.

The first phase of the Empire Wind project was selected for an offtake in New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation (NY4). Following the signing of the agreement and the approval of the project’s construction and operations plan in February 2024, offshore construction began in the spring of 2024. Foundation installation began in June 2025 and will take place into the fall of 2025. Additional work in 2025 includes installing cables in the lease area and an export cable that will deliver the power to New York. In early 2026, an offshore substation will be installed. Beginning in spring 2026, Vestas will begin installing wind turbine generators (WTG) and blades.

The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, is being redeveloped as Empire Wind’s hub for assembly and maintenance, alongside serving as a versatile port for future endeavors. Once complete this strategic site will play a crucial role in staging and assembling wind turbine components, ensuring they are ready for efficient transport to the lease area. This initiative not only enhances our operational capabilities, but also supports economic development across the region.

A substation will be located next to the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to allow Empire Wind’s power to make landfall before connecting into the grid in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

Empire wind Project Timeline

The commercial lease for this federal offshore wind area was signed in 2017, following the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) auction in December 2016. Empire Wind achieved approval of their Construction and Operations Plan (COP) in February 2024. Construction began on the first phase of Empire Wind in Spring 2024 with the first power expected in by the end of 2026.

Timeline of permitting and construction for Empire Wind Project

Technology

Empire Wind Field Rendering

The Turbines

Vestas is the supplier of wind turbine generators for Empire Wind, which use 54 V236-15MW wind turbine generators with a total generating capacity of around 810 MW.

  • 15 MW capacity
  • 774 feet rotor diameter
  • 886 feet high tip height
  • 470,835 sqf swept area

Each turbine rotation can power a New York home for about 1.5 days.

More information about offshore installation work can be found on the Offshore Installation page and for more information about radar safety mitigation click here.

The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT)

As part of the Empire Wind project, Equinor is redeveloping the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT), a valued section of Sunset Park’s waterfront for over a century. This venerable New York port, is undergoing transformation to support the Empire Wind project, accommodating wind turbines and blades. The terminal will serve as the operations and maintenance base for Empire Wind, as well as the staging port for turbine components. Additionally. an onshore substation for the project is currently under construction on the adjacent property.

Construction on the port began in Spring 2024. Once complete, the site will include 63 acres of state-of-the-art facilities, heavy-lift infrastructure, versatile berthing options, 24,000 square feet of warehouse space, class b office space and a dredge depth deep enough to accommodate large cargo vessels. It is being built as a low-emissions facility equipped with solar power, green roofs, and ev charging stations, allowing it to meet New York City’s green standards. Port construction is being done under the direction of Skanska USA.

Construction worker at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.

Onshore Substation

Onshore substation in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

A state-of-the-art digital onshore substation is being constructed on the north side of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to receive power from the Empire Wind project. Construction began in 2024, with the delivery of transformers in February 2025 and the export cable being brought onshore during the summer of the same year.

At this location, the export cable will make landfall and connect into the substation. The power will then be transported to a Con-Ed facility in Gowanus Brooklyn where it will enter the New York City grid. Empire Wind will be the first offshore energy project to connect directly into the New York grid.

Work at the substation is being performed by GE-Bond.

built with new york, union labor

Construction at SBMT and the substation is being doing under a project labor agreement with the Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and Vicinity (BCTC).

In the first year of construction, over 2,000 people worked in varying roles building the site, including over 1,400 union trades workers.

A second project labor agreement has been signed with North Americas Building Trades Unions for the offshore construction work. A third agreement for assembly work at SBMT is expected before work begins in 2026.

Union worker building the O&M base for Empire Wind.

In the Wind

The latest about the project