Recently, plans to set up offshore wind farms near Long Island have been developing. The reason these offshore wind farms are being built near Long Island is because the Atlantic Coast of the United States has strong winds. Offshore wind farms produce electricity by capturing the wind’s energy using giant, propeller-like wind turbines mounted on towers in the ocean, so strong winds help these turbines produce more electricity. One major offshore wind farm near Long Island being worked on right now is Sunrise Wind.

Sunrise Wind is being sponsored by New York State and built by Ørsted and Eversource, two companies with experience building wind farms. Unlike solar power, which is largely used by individual homes, wind power puts energy into the power grid for shared use by Long Islanders. The wind farm is expected to be fully operational by 2024, and it will have the potential capacity to power more than half a million homes on Long Island. The wind farm is being built at least 30 miles east of Montauk Point so that Long Islanders will not notice or be bothered by it. The construction of the wind farm will create up to 800 jobs, and 100 permanent jobs in Suffolk County will be created in order to maintain the wind farm.

The biggest reason why Sunrise Wind is being built is that using renewable energy is good for the environment. Because of this, New York State is encouraging the development of renewable energy with the goal of transitioning to 100% clean energy by 2040. Sponsoring Sunrise Wind was one action New York State took to reach this goal. Another benefit of Sunrise Wind is that it will give Long Island experience in an industry that is currently developing in the United States by drawing on experience from European companies.

Sunrise Wind is only one of many wind farms being built. Another offshore wind farm called South Fork Wind is being built near Sunrise Wind, and wind farms have already been built in many other parts of the country and the world.