The Port of Albany project is projected to create 500 construction jobs and 300 highly-skilled full-time jobs to build the 450-foot-tall turbine towers. The Sunset Park facility will serve as an assembly, operations, and maintenance site for the turbines, where 1,000 short-term and 200 long-term jobs would be created, according to Equinor. The company claims this facility at South Brooklyn Marine Terminal would be the “largest dedicated offshore wind port” in the nation at about 73 acres.
Environmental activists lauded the announcement due to its investment in a neighborhood that is nearly 70% Hispanic and Asian. UPROSE, an environmental justice group in Sunset Park, has been fighting to recreate Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront as a haven for renewable energy jobs…
As early as 1998, “we were talking about a green port,” Elizabeth Yeampierre, the executive director of UPROSE and co-chair of the Climate Justice Alliance, said in a phone interview.
“The vision was that we would use the industrial sector to build for climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience,” she said, while acknowledging the unusual partnership of activists, two oil-and-gas multinational companies, and a state agency. But, she added: “I think that this project does more than provide us with renewable energy and jobs. It also models how New York City should be moving forward in addressing climate change.”
Yeampierre said UPROSE is working with unions on developing the workforce. A part of the governor’s announcement includes a $20 million training institute at SUNY Stony Brook and Farmingdale State College for wind and renewable energy careers…
Although the jobs created by the Equinor project will likely be higher paying than the retail and service-industry jobs Industry City promised, it is not yet clear how many will go to locals.
“We’re making sure we’re able to develop a mechanism that ensures local hiring, because at the end of the day, we’re dealing with a corporation, and want to make sure they’re going to do what they say they’re going to do,” said Yeampierre, noting the possibility of a community benefits agreement between local groups and Equinor. Although the plan is still nascent, Uprose is currently speaking with local unions, with the goal of “prioritizing local hires, and facilitating meaningful engagement to support a community that has been economically devastated by COVID.” As part of preliminary agreements, Equinor has agreed to target 30 percent participation from New York’sMWBE Campaign, and support minority-owned businesses in the area.
As reported by CompositesWorld on 1.19.21:
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Jan. 13 two new state contracts to procure 2,490 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind from Equinor Wind U.S. (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) via the Empire Wind II and Beacon Wind projects, effectively doubling the state’s offshore wind power procurement and significantly growing the offshore wind industry in the U.S.
The announcement capped the state’s second offshore wind solicitation and brings the state’s total offshore wind procurement to 4,300 MW. As part of the bid, Equinor will invest in port upgrades at South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to create a “world-class” staging and assembly facility and will make New York home to what is said will be the nation’s first offshore wind tower manufacturing facility at the port of Albany. Governor Cuomo’s office estimates that the contracts will create $8.9 billion in investment and create more than 5,200 jobs…
Under Governor Cuomo, it is reported that New York has been an offshore wind leader as the Governor committed the state to procure at least 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, as part of the state mandate to source 70% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030. New York is not alone; states have stepped up with bold commitments and contracts in recent years. Following this announcement, 11,500 MW of offshore wind development are under contract across nine states, part of a total state goal of 32,000 MW.
As reported by City & State on 1.20.21:
In a major victory for climate activists, New York City’s largest industrial waterfront is poised to become a hub for offshore wind and renewable energy, thanks to a partnership announced last week between the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the Norwegian energy company Equinor. Equinor, whose manufacturing proposal also includes an upgrade project at the Port of Albany, will partner with British oil giant BP.
NYSERDA has committed to $200 million in upgrades the South Brooklyn Marine Terminalthat will be matched by private investment from Equinor and BP – a total of $400 million to improve 73 acres of mostly unused space. The port, which is slated to be completed by 2025, will serve as a wind turbine manufacturing space, an undertaking that will create at least 1,200 local jobs, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The agreement constitutes the largest single procurement of renewable energy by any U.S. state, positioning New York as a leader in national efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The turbines, which will be sent to offshore wind farms off the Long Island coast, will generate 3.3 gigawatts of energy for New York. That’s a year’s worth of energy for some 1.8 million homes…
“One of the obstacles to developing offshore wind in the U.S. is, there haven’t been these types of manufacturing facilities available,” said Nilda Mesa, adjunct professor at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and the former director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. “And so to develop one here bodes well for the future.”
In recent years the South Brooklyn waterfront has emerged as a flashpoint in debates over development and sustainability. Some progressive neighborhood activists who have long pushed for the city to invest in this section of waterfront to reduce carbon emissions and create green jobs – rather than expand retail and luxury real estate, as has been the fate of historically similar areas such as Tribeca and DUMBO – are celebrating the plan…
Uprose and other community groups have been at the forefront of efforts to deploy the waterfront toward New York’s ambitious emission-reduction goals. With the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the state aims to make 70 percent of its energy renewable by 2030 – and to improve the area’s resilience to climate-related events.
Sunset Park Reports 