Wind Farm Will Open Montauk Facility

Wind farm developer Ørsted and Montauk Inlet Seafood have reached an agreement that will allow the energy company, which recently acquired Deepwater Wind, to open a facility on the East Lake Drive commercial fishing dock property in Montauk.

Ørsted and Eversource Energy, a Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut and Boston, Massachusetts, with regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, have several projects in the hopper, but their South Fork wind farm is the most table-ready. The 15 turbines could become operative as early as 2022, company officials maintained in a press release, stating it’s subject to permitting, further development, and final investment decisions by both parties. It was the first time Ørsted didn’t categorically state its project 35 miles from the coast would be on time and operational, but a spokesperson said that’s just standard “boilerplate,” adding Ørsted does not anticipate any impact on timeline.

Subject to those permit approvals, Ørsted and Eversource will base the South Fork Wind Farm crew transfer vessels at Inlet Seafood and use those vessels to transport members of the wind farm maintenance team to and from the wind farm.

“We are pleased to be locating an operations and maintenance facility in Montauk to service our South Fork Wind Farm and bring additional jobs to the area,” Ørsted CEO Thomas Brostrøm said.

The design of the facility is being developed to ensure South Fork Wind Farm vessels do not impact the existing commercial fishing fleet or the packing operations out of that dock, officials said.

“It’s critical that offshore wind developers work with members of the commercial fishing industry to ensure we can all coexist,” said Bill Grimm, co-owner of Inlet Seafood. “This agreement outlines how we can work at the dock alongside each other.”

Ørsted spokeswoman Meaghan Wims said the facility adjacent to Inlet Seafood will be designed to ensure this.

“Wherever we work, we want to be good neighbors in the community,” said Lee Olivier, Eversource’s executive vice president for enterprise energy strategy and business development. “We look forward to becoming active members of Montauk’s working waterfront.”

The project will allegedly generate enough clean energy to power 70,000 homes each year, and its power will be delivered to the local grid in East Hampton. The Long Island Power Authority will purchase the project’s power through a long-term agreement.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com