Partnering with WREN, questionnaires are sent to offshore wind energy developers around the world who are involved in environmental monitoring. This page provides contextual project information and highlights environmental monitoring, providing links to available data and reports. Content is updated annually.

South Fork Wind

Description

South Fork Wind is New York’s first offshore wind farm with 12 turbines and a state-of-the-art transmission system that generates enough clean energy to power 70,000 average homes. Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables (GIP Gutenberg GmbH) each have 50% stake in the company. Eversource was the original partner before selling its stake to Skyborn Renewables in 2024. The underground transmission line will deliver power to the local grid in the Town of East Hampton, NY. Construction on the wind farm started in February 2022 and was completed March 2024.

Location

The South Fork Wind Farm is located in federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in BOEM Renewable Energy Lease Area OCS-A 0517, 48 km east of Montauk Point, New York and 30.7 km miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island.

Project Timeline

  • 2024, July: Full commissioning
  • 2024, March: Construction completed
  • 2023, December: First energy delivered to the grid
  • 2023, November: First offshore turbine installed
  • 2023, August: Substation construction complete
  • 2023, June: First monopile foundation installed for substation
  • 2023, May: Onshore cable installation and road restoration work were completed
  • 2022, February: Onshore construction began
  • 2022: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved the Construction and Operations Plan (COP)
  • 2021: BOEM published a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)
  • 2021: Essential Fish Habitat Assessment with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Trust Resources submitted to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
  • 2021: Biological Assessments for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NMFS
  • 2020: Fisheries Research and Monitoring Plan
  • 2018: BOEM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Licensing Information

South Fork Wind was notably the first U.S. offshore wind project covered by the federal Permitting Council’s FAST-41 program, which set a new bar for coordinated, transparent, and timely federal review. The lead permitting agency, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), approved the project’s Construction and Operations Plan in 2022 following the approvals of the power purchase agreement by the Long Island Power Authority and the Site Assessment Plan in 2017. Other federal agencies included the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (who issued the Individual Permit), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (who issued the Outer Continental Shelf Air Permit), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA) Office of Protected Resources (who approved the Incidental Harassment Authorization). At the state level, the New York Public Service Commission issued a Notice to Proceed with Construction in 2023 allowing connection of the transmission line to the electric transmission grid in East Hampton. This followed filings of Article VII in 2018 and issues of Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need in 2021 and after the New York Appellate Division, Second Department denied the motion for a stay of construction in 2022. Eversource divested its 50% interest to Global Infrastructure Partners’ Skyborn Renewables in October 2024. 

Key Environmental Issues

Located 35 miles offshore, South Fork was sited to minimize bird and bat interactions. Advanced monitoring systems, including Motus telemetry stations and acoustic monitors, continuously track wildlife activity, and early findings indicate low risks to birds and bats. The project’s 1-by-1 nautical mile turbine spacing allows commercial fishing operations to continue between turbines, with local fishing vessels regularly operating within the site area.

Other key environmental issues:

  • 2024, January: Green Oceans (a Rhode Island group opposed to offshore wind) sued the federal government in 2024 over its approval of South Fork Wind and another Orsted project, Revolution Wind.
  • 2023, May: A group of Rhode Island Fishermen filed a lawsuit claiming that Ørsted and co-developer Eversource Energy LLC illegally expanded the no-fishing and no-travel zones while laying cables connecting the turbines to the mainland electric grid east of Montauk.
  • 2022, June: South Fork Wind signed an agreement with the National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. to further enhance measures designed to protect the North Atlantic right whale (NARW)  during construction and operation of the offshore windfarm. The suite of monitoring measures and advanced technology (e.g., thermal cameras, acoustic sensors, and data integration software) will be aimed at ensuring NARWs are not in close proximity to the construction site during construction activities. They will also implement mitigation to reduce noise during piling, and evaluate other new monitoring technologies as part of the agreement. To guard against vessel strikes, the agreement also includes a 10-knot speed limit for all project-related vessels unless an effective adaptive speed management plan is in place. They will install bird deterrent devices on all wind turbines to minimize attraction and collision.

Environmental Papers and Reports

NOAA Fisheries has developed Offshore Wind Lease Reports that summarize previous fishing activity within each offshore wind lease area along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. View Descriptions of Selected Fishery Landings and Estimates of Vessel Revenue from Areas: A Planning-level Assessment and Descriptions of Selected Fishery Landings and Estimates of Recreational Party and Charter Vessel Revenue from Areas: A Planning-level Assessment for South Fork Wind (OCS-A-0517) here.

Environmental Monitoring: South Fork Wind

Searches description, design and methods, and results.
Phase Stressor & Receptor Design and Methods Results Publications Data
Baseline Bats Bat Community Characterization 
Data for this assessment included regional bat acoustic studies conducted from coastal, island, vessel, or offshore structure locations and regional telemetry data from recent studies focusing on listed species.  		Complete 
Several bat species may occur in the project area. Bat activity was found to be the highest during the migratory seasons (primarily spring and early fall). Weather was also found to influence bat activity and flight height. Bats are more likely to be attracted to WTGs than to avoid them as they may provide new roasting areas and foraging opportunities, which could lead to collisions. 		Stantec Consulting 2018 No data publicly available.
Baseline Birds Avian Community Characterization 
Data were collected during the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (OSAMP) surveys from 2009 to 2012, regional telemetry data from recent studies, pre-construction visual observation surveys conducted for the Block Island Wind Farm, and preliminary results from the first year of post-construction monitoring surveys at the BIWF.  		Complete 
The groups of birds that are likely to occur in the SFWF and SFEC include:
•Waterbirds – loons and cormorants
•Seabirds – shearwaters, fulmars, storm-petrels, gannets, jaegers, gulls, kittiwakes, terns, and alcids
•Waterfowl – seaducks and diving ducks
•Shorebirds – primarily plovers, sandpipers, and phalaropes
•Terrestrial birds – passerines and raptors 		Stantec Consulting 2018 No data publicly available.
Baseline Fish Atlantic Cod Spawning Survey 
Hook and line surveys were conducted in 2018 and 2019 to assess the presence of Atlantic cod spawning activity around the proposed SFWF work area.  		Complete 
Surveys confirmed the presence of spawning cod in and around the SFWF work area, though no spawning aggregations were identified within the work area as part of these surveys. Overall, the survey season catches were lower than expected based on previous years’ experiences.  		Gervelis and Carey 2020 No data publicly available.
Baseline Fish Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Assessment 
Data from the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) and NOAA Habitat Conservation EFH Mapper were reviewed to determine areas of essential fish habitat within the project area.   		Complete 
41 species of finfish and invertebrates have designated essential fish habitat for various life stages within the project area. Minor impacts to EFH are generally associated with species that have demersal/benthic life stages, while negligible impacts to EFH are generally associated with species that have pelagic life stages. 		South Fork Wind 2019 No data publicly available.
Baseline EMF

Fish 		Vulnerability of smooth dogfish and winter skate to electromagnetic fields
This study integrates findings from two research initiatives. The first is the ongoing coastal shark research conducted by the South Fork (SOFO) Natural History Museum Shark Research and Education Program, which examines the abundance and sensitivity of shark species along Long Island's coastline, from Long Beach to Southampton, NY. The second involves an assessment of planned offshore wind sites and cable routing to evaluate potential exposure. By combining these datasets, the study aims to assess the vulnerability of smooth dogfish and winter skates to EMF’s from offshore wind development along the East Coast. 		Complete
The study found that, based on current offshore wind development plans, both smooth dogfish and winter skate face a high level of exposure vulnerability. However, the sensitivity vulnerability differs between the two species, with smooth dogfish exhibiting high sensitivity and winter skate demonstrating low sensitivity. 		Sechrist 2025 No data publicly available.
Baseline Fish FSPS for temperate fish monitoring
The study evaluated the performance of a fine-scale acoustic positioning system (FSPS) in coastal New York to monitor temperate fish behavior near an offshore wind development. The research was conducted between August 2021 and December 2022 in coastal waters off southern Long Island, New York. During this period, a grid of 20 acoustic receivers was deployed, and 260 individuals from 17 fish species were tracked using acoustic telemetry tags. The researchers also used reference transmitters to assess positioning error and examined the effects of environmental variables, transmitter power, fish movement rates, and receiver loss on horizontal positioning error (HPE) and route mean squared error (RMSE) using Generalized Linear Models (GLMs). 		Complete
The study found that the FSPS effectively tracked a diverse group of temperate fish species with generally low positioning error, especially in the central array. While environmental variables like temperature and noise significantly influenced positioning error, these factors explained a substantial amount of unexplained variance. A 25% loss of receivers resulted in minor increases in positioning error, primarily at the array's edge. Interestingly, higher transmitter power (158 dB) was associated with larger and more variable positioning errors. 		Shipley et al. 2024 No data publicly available.
Baseline Fish Scallop fishing activity characterization
The study developed a new method to characterize scallop fishing activity in Southern New England from 2015 to 2018 by primarily using machine learning (random decision forests) on high-resolution AIS data to classify vessel activity as fishing or non-fishing. This AIS model was trained and validated using Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) data. For trips lacking sufficient AIS data, the study implemented a fallback system, first to VMS data (using a 5-knot speed cutoff) and then to existing modeled VTR locations. Finally, landings values were distributed across the identified fishing locations from the AIS and VMS data, and the results were compared with estimates from the traditional VTR fishing footprint data product. 		Complete
The study found that the AIS model significantly improved the accuracy of predicting fishing activity compared to VMS speed cutoffs and VTR fishing footprints. When comparing scallop landings within Southern New England wind lease areas, the VTR fishing footprint data generally estimated higher exposure than the AIS model with VMS and VTR fallback, although this varied by year and lease area. The AIS model also resulted in more tightly distributed estimates of fishing effort compared to the smoothed distributions produced by the VTR fishing footprint approach. An intrusion analysis revealed that while trip-level VTR estimates were often slightly larger, the AIS model highlighted some individual trips with substantially higher exposure within lease areas, suggesting potential discrepancies in how the two methods attribute fishing value. 		Livermore and Guilfoo 2024 No data publicly available.
Baseline Fish, Invertebrates Gillnet Monitoring
The gillnet survey gear consists of five gillnet strings per area with six, 300-foot net panels of 12-inch mesh and tie downs. A total of ninety nets were sampled, twice per month on a 24-hour soak during survey periods. The entire catch was measured, and weighed, with length/width measurements taken of individual fish and crustacean species. Stomach samples were collected from select commercially valuable fish species such as winter skate, monkfish and Atlantic cod for prey composition analysis. 		Complete
In the first year, the eastern reference area encountered 20 different species and was dominated by skates (winter and little skate), monkfish, and bluefish. The western reference area encountered 27 different species and was dominated by skates (winter skate, little skate), sea scallops, monkfish, and bluefish. The wind farm area encountered 23 different species and was dominated by winter skate, monkfish, little skate, and bluefish. During the spring months, winter skate dominated the catch with consistent lower levels of summer flounder, monkfish, and little skate catch. In the fall, an increase in monkfish catch, little skate and bluefish was observed.

In the second year, the eastern reference area encountered 22 different species and was dominated by skates (winter and little skate), monkfish, and bluefish. The western reference area encountered 30 different species and was dominated by skates (winter skate, little skate) with sea scallops, monkfish, bluefish, summer flounder and chub mackerel as part of the assemblage. The wind farm area encountered 27 different species and was again dominated by winter skate, monkfish, little skate, and bluefish with an increase in Atlantic mackerel this year. An increase in Atlantic menhaden in all three areas was observed and no blue fin tunas were observed this year. The bottom water temperatures were cooler than in 2021 and the salinity slightly higher in 2022. During the spring months, winter skate dominated the catch with consistent lower levels of summer flounder, monkfish, little skate, spiny dogfish and Atlantic menhaden. The expected increase in monkfish and winter skate during their migration in the fall was not observed, but a consistent catch of little skate and bluefish occurred. 		Bethoney et al. 2022, Bethoney et al. 2022 No data publicly available.
Baseline Invertebrates Ventless Lobster Survey 
Ten stations per survey area were randomly selected for sampling, which was conducted twice per month from May – November 2021 with target soak times of five days. One trawl of ten traps (six ventless and four standard vented) were sampled at each station, with abundance and detailed biological data collected on lobsters, Jonah crab, and all bycatch species caught. 		Complete 
Overall, the eastern control area had the highest abundance of lobster, Jonah crab and rock crab, while the South Fork area had the lowest abundance of all three species. 		South Fork Wind and INSPIRE Environmental 2020 No data publicly available.
Baseline Marine Mammals Acoustic Modelling for Pile Driving 
Acoustic fields were modelled for the sound sources expected to contribute to the noise produced during construction of the wind farm. Impulsive noise from impact pile driving of the monopile foundations was modelled for: hammer type, pile type, pile schedule (hammer energy/number of strikes), season, geographic location, and implementation of sound attenuation measures.  		Complete
As an overall impact-producing factors (IPFs), underwater noise has the potential to cause minor to major impacts on marine mammals, sea turtles, and sturgeon; however, noise produced from impact pile driving, vibratory pile driving, vessels, and turbine operations may have differing impact potentials ranging from negligible to major. Therefore, each of the noise sources were all assessed even if any of the individual sources produced negligible impacts only, they are still addressed in this Appendix due to their contribution to the overall underwater noise impact assessment. 		CSA Ocean Sciences Inc 2021, Denes et al. 2019 No data publicly available.
Baseline Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles Protected Species Survey
From 26 September 2019–25 September 2020 2 survey boats equipped with Penetration Depth Seismic Source, Protected Species Observers (PSOs), passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) operators, and IR cameras preformed offshore and near shore protected species surveys. 		Complete
The grand total of 103,186 km of Monitoring Effort occurred over a combined total of 15,919 h. The were 591 Mysticete detections, 1369 odontocete detections, and 50 sea turtle detections. 		Smultea et al. 2020 No data publicly available.
Baseline Physical Environment Benthic Habitat Mapping 
Acoustic and ground-truth data were reviewed in an iterative process to delineate benthic habitats within the project area.   		Complete 
The proposed project design for the South Fork Wind Farm aims to avoids areas with high densities of boulders. The majority of the foundations are sited within areas of Sand and Muddy Sand combined with Coarse Sediment - <5% Cobble/Boulder and very low boulder density.  		INSPIRE Environmental 2020 No data publicly available.
Baseline Reptiles Acoustic Modelling for Pile Driving 
Acoustic fields were modelled for the sound sources expected to contribute to the noise produced during construction of the wind farm. Impulsive noise from impact pile driving of the monopile foundations was modelled for: hammer type, pile type, pile schedule (hammer energy/number of strikes), season, geographic location, and implementation of sound attenuation measures. 		Complete 
Due to the placement of noise attenuation devices and general construction activities, no physiological exposures are expected for sea turtles from impact pile driving.  		CSA Ocean Sciences Inc 2021, Denes et al. 2019 No data publicly available.
Baseline, Construction Invertebrates Ventless Trap Survey
The South Fork Wind Farm development and two nearby reference control areas were sampled twice a month. Each area had ten stations consisting of ten traps with a target soak time of 5 days between samples. The traps at each station consisted of 6 ventless (V) traps and 4 standard (S) traps in the configuration: V-S-V-S-V-V-S-V-S-V. At each station, the entire catch was speciated and counted at the trap level, then sampled for size and sex. Additional data on water temperature and habitat was also collected. 		Complete
Across all years, the eastern control area had the highest abundance of lobster, Jonah crab, and rock crab, with decreased and more comparable abundance for all three species in the western control and South Fork areas. The abundance of lobsters decreased somewhat each year in the two reference areas but remained consistent in the South Fork area. Jonah crab abundance has been relatively consistent in the western reference area but was lower in 2023 for both the South Fork and the eastern areas. Rock crab abundance decreased slightly in South Fork in 2023 but was higher than in 2022 for both reference areas. Across all years, the abundance of rock crabs peaked in the early months (May-June), lobster abundance peaked in the summer (July-September), and Jonah crab abundance peaked in the later months (August–November). 		Bethoney et al. 2021, Bethoney et al. 2022, Bethoney et al. 2023 No data publicly available.
Baseline, Construction, Operations Fish Ventless Fish Pot Survey
The South Fork Wind development area was sampled once per month. Eight turbine locations were sampled with a single string of ventless fish pots at each location. Each string of ventless fish pots consisted of 18 identical ventless fish pots evenly spaced at 50-meter increments with the first pot of the string set on the exact location of a potential turbine and the last pot of the string set due south of the turbine. During the construction phase, the strings were offset by about 100-150 meters from the turbines to avoid gear conflicts with construction activities. Monthly, each pot was baited and left to soak for 24-hours prior to sampling. Sampling consisted of speciating the catch from each pot and recording the total number of individuals and the total weight of each species per pot. Individual lengths were recorded for all fish while individual weights were also recorded for target species. Oceanographic data was obtained at each sampling station with conductivity, temperature, depth casts, and temperature loggers. 		Ongoing 
The catch throughout the first two years of sampling exhibited a strong seasonal component and was dominated by a handful of species – black sea bass, scup, Jonah crabs, and Atlantic rock crabs. During Year 3, the catch was notably lower in the first half of the survey compared to the pre-construction phase, likely due to construction activities like pile driving, inter-array cable installation, and scour protection installation that occurred. Throughout the first half of Year 4, the oceanographic conditions were quite different than the previous three years. Cooler and fresher conditions persisted throughout the summer, which may have influenced the changes in species composition over the survey period. For example, the biggest pulse of scup didn’t occur until September. The black sea bass catch remained high in the second half of the survey period, and, overall, the catches were dominated by Jonah and rock crabs in November and December. 		South Fork Wind and INSPIRE Environmental 2020, Bethoney et al. 2024, Bethoney et al. 2023, Bethoney and Olsen 2023, Bethoney and Heimann 2021 No data publicly available.
Baseline, Construction, Operations Fish, Invertebrates Beam Trawl Monitoring Survey
Surveys were conducted once per month within the South Fork Wind Farm development area as well as a nearby Western references area. The survey gear consisted of a 3-m beam trawl outfitted with a 2.4 cm knotless nylon liner. For the first 20 months of the survey, three 20-minute tows each in the South Fork Wind Farm development area, a Western reference area, and an Eastern reference area, for a total of nine tows per month, were sampled. 		Ongoing
Year one and two showed the Eastern reference area was muddy and dominated by crabs, skate, squid, and hake. The Western reference area was rocky with many small invertebrates and high catches of scallop and skate. The South Fork Wind Farm development area was predominantly skate, crabs, scallops, scup, and miscellaneous invertebrates. The South Fork Wind Farm area often had low catches of scallops prior to the expansion of the survey area in the 21st month of the survey. Year three and four show that the West area had higher total numbers of organisms and greater total weights caught compared to the South Fork Wind Farm area. The West area appeared to be dominated by scallops and other miscellaneous invertebrates compared to the South Fork Wind Farm area, which was dominated by skates. 		Bethoney et al. 2024, Bethoney et al. 2023, Bethoney et al. 2021, Bethoney et al. 2022 No data publicly available.
Construction Habitat Change

Invertebrates, Physical Environment 		Sediment Profile and Plan View Imaging (SPI/PV), ROV-based Sampling
High-resolution SPI/PV imagery was collected at WTG foundations and along the export cable route. ROV surveys captured underwater video and images to document marine life and seafloor characteristics. Sediment grab sampling was also performed in state waters. 		Complete
No evidence of adverse changes to benthic habitats was observed surrounding new structures or the export cable. Epifaunal communities established on WTG foundations and scour protection material over time, supporting diverse marine life. Relocated boulders retained similar biological communities to non-relocated ones. 		INSPIRE Environmental 2025

South Fork Wind Benthic Monitoring Program StoryMap
Construction, Operations Noise

Marine Mammals 		Passive Acoustic Monitoring
Deployment Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) devices to record ambient noise, marine mammals, and cod vocalizations in the SFWF during all construction activities, and for at least 3 calendar years of operation following construction. The archival recorders must have a minimum capability of detecting and storing acoustic data on anthropogenic noise sources (such as vessel noise, pile driving, and WTG operation), marine mammals, and cod vocalizations in the SFWF. 		Ongoing
Results pending 		Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) 2022 No data publicly available.
Operations Collision

Bats, Birds 		Avian and Bat Monitoring Program 
Acoustic monitoring devices for birds and bats will be installed on turbines.   		Planned 
Results of monitoring will be submitted in an annual report to BOEM.  		Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) 2022 No data publicly available.
Operations Collision

Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles 		Vessel Crew and Visual Observer
Vessel operators and crew members maintain a vigilant watch for marine mammals and sea turtles, and reduce vessel speed, alter the vessel’s course, or stop the vessel as necessary to avoid striking marine mammals or sea turtles. All vessels transiting to and from the SFWF must have a trained lookout for North Atlantic right whales (NARWs) on duty at all times, during which the trained lookout must monitor a vessel strike avoidance zone around the vessel. The trained lookout must maintain a vigilant watch at all times a vessel is underway and, when technically feasible, monitor the 500-meter Vessel Strike Avoidance Zone for ESA-listed species to maintain minimum separation distances. 		Planned
Results pending 		Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) 2022 No data publicly available.
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