WINDS OF CHANGE
South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to transform into renewable
energy hub off of environmentally-friendly Sunset Park
The federal grant for the SBMT 35th Street Pier Expansion Project at Sunset Park is intended to add a barge berth and a heavy-lift crane pad on the
western end of the 35th Street Pier. Mayor’s Offi ce
COURIER LIFE, MARCH 11-17, 2022 47
BY XIMENA DEL CERRO
Mayor Eric Adams announced
on March 3 that the
South Brooklyn Marine Terminal
(SBMT) will be turned
into an offshore wind energy
port facility.
The project will transform
the shipping, warehousing,
and manufacturing
space into an operations and
maintenance hub for offshore
wind farms.
The nonprofi t quasi-governmental
New York City
Economic Development Corporation
(NYCEDC), along
with Norwegian fossil and
renewable energy company
Equinor, its British partner
BP, and the city-owned terminal
operators will be in
charge of the project.
NYC — as well as the state
— has set goals to shift away
from fossil fuels by creating
and depending solely on a
new, electrifi ed economy by
2040. This comes after the
Biden administration leased
nearly half a million acres
of the Atlantic Ocean for offshore
wind development in
January in the largest and
most lucrative auction of its
kind to date.
Fourteen companies competed
for the rights to develop
wind farms on six areas of
the New York Bight, a shallow
stretch of sea that runs
between Long Island and
southern New Jersey.
Bids rose to $4.37 billion
dollars. Bight Wind Holdings,
a subsidiary of National
Grid, won the rights to
the largest tract for a whopping
$1.1 billion, or $9,600
per acre. Other winning bids
came from subsidiaries of oil
and gas companies like Shell
and Total, as well as international
renewable energy companies
like EDF Renewables.
Only one U.S.-grown company,
Invenergy, won the biding
for a lease.
When President Joe Biden
stepped into offi ce last year,
he set a national goal of having
30 gigawatts of offshore
wind power — enough to
power 10 million homes — installed
by 2030. Today, there
are only two offshore wind
farms in operation in the
U.S. — the Block Island Wind
Farm in Rhode Island and the
Coastal Virginia Offshore
Wind pilot project — and they
fulfi ll less than 1 percent of
Biden’s ambition.
NYC has committed $191
million to offshore wind projects
—including $57 million
for the SBMT transition.
Currently, there are fi ve
offshore wind projects in
development, which are expected
to power more than 2.4
million NY homes and bring
a combined economic impact
of $12.1 billion to the state.
“I worked closely with
Secretary Buttigieg to secure
a critical $25 million federal
grant to facilitate the transformation
of South Brooklyn
Marine Terminal into
one of the largest offshore
wind power projects in the
nation,” said U.S. Senator
Chuck Schumer. “The federal
investment will support
good paying, green jobs for
a community that has borne
the burden of pollution, while
helping New York State reach
its emissions goals.”
In September 2020, BP
formed a partnership with
Equinor to develop offshore
wind and announced the acquirement
of 50 percent nonoperating
stake in the Empire
Wind off the NY and
Beacon Wind projects at the
Massachusetts offshore wind
farms. Equinor also committed
to establishing a $5 million
ecosystem fund to “bring
more NYC residents into offshore
wind careers, propel
offshore wind innovation,
and support a just transition.”
The company is also expanding
the Port of Albany to
build turbine towers that will
be shipped down the Hudson
River to Sunset Park and it
announced the establish of
a community-accessible offshore
wind learning center
in its Brooklyn offi ce.
NYCEDC stated mission is
to “leverage the city’s assets
to create good jobs and drive
growth, ensuring equitable
and sustainable development
across all fi ve boroughs.”
The corporation committed
to support a workforce training
for diverse local residents
including a goal of 30 percent
participation from minority-
and women-owned business
enterprise contractors based
in NYC or within the state.
Platforms for off-site wind
turbine staging for Equinor
and other developers will be
built on the 39th Street Pier
in Brooklyn. The agreement
states the development will
be a low-emissions facility.
The renewable energy industry
is expected to support
13,000 local jobs over time
and generate $1.3 billion in
average annual investment
citywide.
Currently, fi ve offshore
wind projects are in active development,
which will power
more than 2.4 million NY’s
homes and bring a combined
economic impact of $12.1 billion
to the state. Brooklyn’s
Sunset Park has long pushed
to renew its industrial waterfront
with green jobs.
“We will continue to advance
an equitable recovery
and make our environment
healthier,” said
Deputy Mayor for Economic
and Workforce Development
Maria Torres-Springer.
“The federal investment will support good paying, green jobs for
a community that has borne the burden of pollution, while helping
New York State reach its emissions goals.”