Joint venture partners Eversource and Ørsted today announced their single largest New York offshore wind industry supply chain contract, with their selection of Long Island-based contractor Haugland Energy Group LLC (an affiliate of Haugland Group LLC), which will create more than 400 jobs for New York union workers to install the underground duct bank system for Sunrise Wind’s onshore transmission line in Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York.
This more than $200 million scope of work will be completed by Long Island skilled tradesmen and women, including heavy equipment operators, electricians, and lineworkers. This award builds upon a similar scope of work Haugland Group successfully completed for Eversource and Ørsted’s South Fork Wind project – on-track to be America’s first completed utility-scale offshore wind farm. South Fork Wind will power approximately 70,000 New York homes annually when it begins operations at the end of 2023.
Sunrise Wind is a 924-megawatt offshore wind project to be located approximately 30 miles east of Montauk, N.Y. This project alone will achieve roughly 10 percent of New York State's offshore wind goal of 9,000 megawatts by 2035, while also bringing $700 million of investment to Suffolk County and creating 800 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs in the state.
In November 2022, in a joint proceeding unopposed by any party, the New York Public Service Commission approved the project’s underground transmission route that will deliver electricity from Sunrise Wind to the existing Long Island electrical grid via a 124-mile submarine export cable. The onshore transmission cable will make landfall deep below the beach at Smith Point County Park on Fire Island in Shirley, N.Y., and follow an approximately 18-mile route below publicly owned roads and rights-of-way to an interconnection point at the existing Holbrook substation.
Onshore construction work is expected to begin later this year, with Sunrise Wind expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025.
“We’re excited to once again pair our 100 years of regional transmission expertise with the exceptional, hardworking, and trusted team at Long Island’s Haugland Group,” said Joe Nolan, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Eversource Energy. “Today’s award is one of the largest offshore wind supply chain investments ever made in the United States. And together with our state partners, we are committed to building a new clean energy future for the Empire State that will provide not only significant new benefits for local communities but also greater economic opportunity for workers.”
“Our offshore wind projects are putting New Yorkers to work, developing a statewide supply chain, and bringing clean American energy to the state,” said David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted. “Sunrise Wind’s transmission system construction contract with Haugland Group is a great example of how offshore wind is creating new opportunities for local businesses today. Partnering with a local union contractor like Haugland Group is part of our commitment to building clean energy the right way, benefitting communities across Long Island and New York State.”
“Eversource and Ørsted’s completion of this contract represents a massive win for the offshore wind industry, labor and the development of New York’s in-state supply chain,” said NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris. “We congratulate Haugland Energy Group on their selection for this critical transmission project — and celebrate another offshore wind milestone that will help generate renewable energy and bring significant economic benefits and family-sustaining union jobs to Long Island.”
“Haugland Group LLC thanks Eversource and Ørsted for their continued confidence, as we are proudly named their local, chosen partner for Sunrise Wind,” said Billy Haugland II, Chief Executive Officer of Haugland Group LLC. “As New York State takes its boldest step towards carbon neutrality, Haugland Group is proud to cement its leadership role in the renewable energy industry. Sunrise Wind represents amplified opportunities for all Long Islanders, invigorating the local labor force and creating more than 400 union jobs, as well as new opportunities for local businesses and the contracting communities alike. Haugland Group is honored to be entrusted with Long Island’s utility infrastructure, while creating economic opportunities for Long Islanders.”
“It is clear that offshore wind is our nation’s clean energy future, and I am proud that Suffolk County is firmly at the forefront of this industry,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “Today's announcement brings us one step closer to shovels in the ground and importantly supports our economy by securing hundreds of union jobs for Long Islanders.”
"We are thrilled to continue our unwavering support for the Sunrise Wind project, a massive offshore wind farm that will power nearly 600,000 homes and create 800 good paying local jobs,” said Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine. “This project will not only provide clean energy to the Town of Brookhaven, but for Suffolk County at-large. With this joint venture, we solidify our commitment to sustainability, renewable energy, and our children’s futures.”
“The Sunrise Wind project is vital to our community's efforts to transition to a cleaner, more sustainable future,” said Brookhaven Deputy Supervisor and Councilman Dan Panico. “We are thrilled to continue our support for this project, which will employ hundreds of Brookhaven Town residents and provide green energy to over half-a-million households, benefitting communities from Port Jefferson to Patchogue.”
“New York State's nation-leading climate goals have become construction goals,” said New York Offshore Wind Alliance Director Fred Zalcman. “And today's announcement of Sunrise Wind's selection of the Haugland Group for construction of the project's onshore transmission system beginning later this year is tangible evidence of the significant progress being made in growing the local supply chain, creating quality union jobs, enhancing the resiliency of the grid, while tackling the threat of climate change.”
Ørsted and Eversource in 2022 signed the National Offshore Wind Agreement with North America’s Building Trades Unions, the labor organization representing more than 3 million skilled craft professionals. The partnership includes 15 International Union Presidents and their local affiliates and sets the bar for working conditions and equity, injects hundreds of millions of dollars in middle-class wages into the American economy, creates apprenticeship and career opportunities for communities most impacted by environmental injustice, and ensures projects will be built with the safest and best-trained workers in America.
“The work to create a cleaner future for New York has begun and is focused on building a brand-new local workforce delivering family-sustaining jobs for our skilled tradeswomen and tradesmen,” said Matthew Aracich, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties. "We applaud Ørsted and Eversource for once again partnering with leading local construction firm Haugland Group, which has demonstrated a strong record of collaboration with New York’s building trades.”
“The skilled high voltage lineworkers of IBEW Local 1049 are committed to providing the clean electric service which will bring comfort and safety to our community,” said Pat Guidice, Business Manager IBEW Local Union 1049. “We look forward to our continued partnership with Eversource and The Haugland Group to ensure this $200 million dollar project not only builds a new clean energy future but also drives the economic engine for Long Island.”
“Long Island continues to reap substantial economic benefits from the burgeoning offshore wind industry, including hundreds of new union jobs and a growing clean energy economy, and we applaud Sunrise Wind for investing hundreds of millions of dollars in our region while fostering a robust local supply chain that will be led again by the widely respected Haugland Group and that will boost the small business community here,” said Matt Cohen, President & CEO of the Long Island Association.
“We are thrilled to see Eversource and Ørsted partnering with Haugland Energy Group for this record-breaking supply chain award to advance Sunrise Wind,” said Julie Tighe, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters. “This project, which will create over 400 union jobs, is another example of New York’s plans for a clean energy economy turning into action, and it demonstrates Eversource’s and Ørsted’s strong commitment to the growth of the offshore wind industry in New York and the tremendous economic benefits that come with it.”
Haugland Group affiliates are signatory to several local unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1049, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 138, and numerous other Long Island Building Trades Unions, who will serve as the source of construction labor for the project. In addition to Haugland Energy Group, several other local businesses will support the project’s construction activities and will prioritize local sourcing of construction materials, benefitting Long Island’s economy and further expanding the domestic offshore wind supply chain in New York State.
Haugland is one of the key participants in the developers’ third New York Supply Chain Forum being held at Suffolk County Community College on Tuesday, April 25.
Sunrise Wind’s additional investments in Suffolk County include:
- $10 million for a National Offshore Wind Training Center in Brentwood.
- A state-of-the-art Operations and Maintenance Hub in East Setauket that will create up to 100 new long terms jobs.
- The designation of Port Jefferson as the home port of the project’s custom-built 260-foot Service Operation Vessel.
- $5 million for a Research and Development Partnership with Stony Brook University
Elsewhere in New York, Sunrise Wind’s $86 million supply chain contract with Riggs Distler & Company, Inc., is bringing construction and steel manufacturing work to the Capital Region and Western New York companies supporting the construction of advanced foundation components for wind turbines at the Port of Coeymans. That contract is creating 230 family-sustaining jobs.
New York State selected Sunrise Wind as part of NYSERDA's inaugural competitive 2018 offshore wind solicitation.
