{"id":4177,"date":"2026-04-17T15:12:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/?p=4177"},"modified":"2026-04-21T12:17:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:17:24","slug":"surprise-new-york-scores-another-offshore-wind-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/?p=4177","title":{"rendered":"Surprise! New York Scores Another Offshore Wind Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Despite the best efforts of US President Donald Trump to kill the domestic offshore wind industry in its cradle, the hits just keep on coming. In the latest development, the massive 924-megawatt Sunrise Wind offshore project in New York has just achieved a construction milestone with the installation of its first wind turbine. Oh, so that\u2019s why the President pitched a fit at New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani last night, seemingly out of nowhere\u2026<\/p>\n

New York State, New York City, What\u2019s The Difference?<\/h3>\n

To be clear, the Sunrise Wind project is not located in waters off the New York City coastline, where Mayor Mamdani has jurisdiction. It sits in an area 30 miles east of Montauk Point on Long Island, and Montauk Point is more than 100 miles east of the New York City border.<\/p>\n

How the President could mix them up is anybody\u2019s guess. Nevertheless, in the early morning hours of April 17 the news organization Offshore Wind Biz<\/em> reported that installation of the first turbine at Sunrise Wind was completed. A typical turbine installation can take several days if not more, so it\u2019s possible that Trump caught wind of the operation before the news leaked out. Considering his aggressive but losing crusade<\/a> against offshore wind farms in the US, it\u2019s no surprise to see him distract public attention away from this latest defeat by lashing out at any available target with any connection to New York. Like the Mayor of New York City, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York<\/a>!\u201d Trump posted on his personal social media site Truth Social on Thursday night, April 16.<\/p>\n

The burn came like a bolt out of the blue, devoid of context especially considering the President\u2019s recent, cordial meeting with the popular Mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has no chance!\u201d Trump raved on. \u201cThe United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE. The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG. People are fleeing. They must change their ways, AND FAST. History has proven, THIS \u2018STUFF\u2019 JUST DOESN\u2019T WORK,\u201d Trump continued.<\/p>\n

Surprise! A New Offshore Wind Turbine<\/h3>\n

Readers, what do you think? Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. The first turbine installation at Sunrise Wind is just one defeat for Trump. Successful completion of the project is another twist of the knife. Offshore Wind Biz<\/em> also cited a spokesperson from the Sunrise Wind developer, the Danish firm \u00d8rsted, who affirmed that the\u00a0 new wind farm<\/a> is on track to deliver first power before the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cConstruction continues with safety as the top priority, and Sunrise Wind remains on track for commercial operations in the second half of 2027 when the project will power nearly 600,000 homes at a time of rising demand,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n

Ouch! That\u2019s gotta hurt. Trump spent the better part of last year trying to stop construction from moving forward on Sunrise wind and four other offshore projects along the Atlantic coast, only to be defeated at every turn in court. All five are now steaming towards construction (see more Trump vs. wind background here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cSunrise Wind is the second offshore wind farm to power New York, after South Fork Wind,\u201d Offshore Wind Biz<\/em> noted, with South Fork being an existing wind farm that went into operation in 2024, before Trump took office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state\u2019s third offshore wind farm, Empire Wind 1, is also expected to enter the wind turbine installation stage soon,\u201d the news organization continued.<\/p>\n

Not A Surprise, If You Follow The Maritime Press<\/h3>\n

To be fair, perhaps the shock of it all was too much for the President. The Sunrise Wind project provides weekly construction updates<\/a>, and nothing on its bingo card for the week of April 13 indicated that an actual wind turbine would suddenly spring up in the waters of New York State.<\/p>\n

According to Sunrise, contractor activities anticipated for the week were confined to onshore facilities including:<\/p>\n

Commissioning and testing of a converter station on Union Avenue<\/p>\n

Commissioning and testing of the expanded Holbrook substation, including the construction of a permanent access road<\/p>\n

Continue commissioning and testing Holbrook Substation Expansion<\/p>\n

Various tasks at the Smith Point County Park & Marina involving pier and platform operations, and work on an offshore fiber cable.<\/p>\n

Perhaps if the President kept an eye on the maritime press, he would have been better prepared, mentally speaking, to accept defeat. As Offshore Wind Biz<\/em> points out, the installation was conducted by the specialized offshore construction vessel Wind Scylla, which has been lurking around the shores of the US for several months while installing turbines at the Vineyard Wind<\/a> project off the coast of Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind represents a particularly stinging defeat for Trump, who first tried to stop the project during his first term in office.<\/p>\n

Having finished up at Vineyard Wind, the vessel headed off for the Sunrise Wind site and arrived somewhere between March 25 and March 26, duly reported by the news organization Offshore-Energy<\/em> on March 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to \u00d8rsted\u2019s mariners\u2019 briefing from March 30, Wind Scylla and supporting vessels are currently installing a wind turbine<\/a> at location AS20, one of the wind turbine locations at Sunrise Wind,\u201d Offshore-Energy<\/em> noted.<\/p>\n

Next Steps For The US Offshore Wind Industry<\/h3>\n

As for what happens to other Atlantic Coast projects in the pipeline, that\u2019s a good question. Upon taking office last year, Trump halted all new offshore lease sales and summarily suspended several permitted projects that already had their leases in hand. That didn\u2019t wash with a federal judge, who handed down a ruling on December 8<\/a> that affirmed the President\u2019s authority to stop issuing new leases, while denying him the right to subject permitted projects to additional reviews.<\/p>\n

Despite the lift of the suspension, it\u2019s pretty clear that not much offshore activity will take place in the US after the completion of Sunrise Wind, Vineyard Wind, Empire Wind, Revolution Wind, and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Still, the rich wind resources of the Atlantic Coast aren\u2019t going anywhere. There they sit, ripe for the taking, waiting for January 20, 2029, when a new US President is scheduled to take office.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Northeast states are not sitting on their hands. Keep an eye on a collaborative effort between Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont, aimed at sharing power from up to 1.2 gigawatts\u2019 worth of onshore wind power<\/a>, to be shuttled through the region from sites in the far north of Maine.<\/p>\n

Image (cropped): In yet another symbol of defeat for Trump\u2019s war on offshore wind, the first turbine<\/a> has been installed at the 924-megawatt Sunrise Wind project in New York (courtesy of Sunrise Wind).<\/em><\/p>\n

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