East Hampton Historical Society Talks Wind Power, Draws Crowd

Photos courtesy of RichardLewinPhotography.com

EAST HAMPTON, NY-The East Hampton Historical Society held the first lecture of its “Winter Lecture Series 2016” on Friday as a crowd turned out to discuss wind power and its future on the South Fork.

EHHS Executive Director Richard Barons presented “Wind Power: A Story of 350 Years of Harnessing Mother Nature” as a standing room only crowd learned about the wide variety, as well as evolution of shapes and designs, of wind power equipment in East Hampton.

In attendance were EHHS Registrar Rosanne Barons and EHHS Executive Director Richard Barons, Ann Sandford, Isabel Carmichael, assistant to Richard Barons, Laurie Weltz, Katie Graham and Trustee Arthur “Tiger” Graham, Guild Hall Executive Director Ruth Appelhof, EHHS Trustee Barbara Borsack and Ted Borsack, EHHS Trustee Mary Busch, Joan Osborne and EHHS Trustee Emeritus Robert Osborne.

For years, town officials have considered various projects with an eye toward harnessing wind power. Most recently, in December, Deepwater Wind, an offshore wind developer based in Rhode Island, announced a proposal for a new approach to meet the growing energy need on the South Fork with a new offshore wind farm and two new battery energy storage systems.

In response to PSEG-Long Island’s request for new local energy resources serving the South Fork, Deepwater Wind is proposing to supply capacity and renewable energy from the 90 megawatt, 15-turbine Deepwater ONE - South Fork project.

“Governor Cuomo has made New York a leader in clean energy. Our new solution supports his goals by combining advanced energy storage technology and renewable energy from offshore wind to deliver clean, cost-effective energy exactly when and where it’s most needed,” Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said. “Not only will the project reduce air pollution emissions on Long Island, but it’ll also defer the need to build costly new power plants and transmission systems on the South Fork.”

This will be the first phase of a regional offshore wind farm the company is developing roughly 30 miles southeast of Montauk, far enough away to be over the horizon.

All transmission cables will be buried deep below existing roads and under shoreline features, with no overhead cables or poles.

To complement the wind farm, the company is also proposing building two new battery energy storage facilities – one in Montauk and the other in Wainscott.

The facilities will consist of lithium-ion battery technology, which will be designed and installed by General Electric, and will be located on industrially zoned sites on Industrial Road in Montauk and at the Wainscott Commercial Center, storing a combined 15 megawatts of energy.

The facilities will be operational by 2018.

The unique combination of renewable generation with energy storage provides a cost-effective solution to two challenges.

First, by delivering clean energy directly to LIPA’s existing substation in East Hampton, this proposal serves the growing need on the South Fork without adding new oil-fired power plants or larger transmission lines.

Second, by delivering significant quantities of renewable energy to Long Island, the proposal will help to satisfy LIPA’s commitment to procure 280 MW of on-island renewable capacity; facilitate the Town of East Hampton’s Board mandate to achieve 100 percent renewable energy use by 2030; and support Governor Cuomo’s plans to mandate that half of all power used by New Yorkers be generated from renewable sources by 2030.

Construction on Deepwater ONE - South Fork could begin as early as 2019, with commercial operations by 2022.

Deepwater ONE will produce enough energy to power approximately 50,000 homes, displace tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, and improve air quality on the South Fork.

In July 2013, Deepwater Wind won the 30-year lease to develop the Deepwater ONE project in federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)’s first-ever competitive lease auction for offshore wind covered two parcels, totaling approximately 256 square miles in the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles east of Montauk.

Additional reporting by Richard Lewin.